RTI NGO slams Tamil Nadu State Information Commission for providing false information

The Tamil Nadu Right To Information Campaign (TNRTIC), a group of NGOs working in the area of Right to Information (RTI) Act,  have slammed the State Information Commission for furnishing misleading information regarding the availability of order copies.

TNRTIC coordinator Ossie Fernandes who released a report in Chennai on a national-level study conducted by the National RTI Awards Secretariat, a Delhi-based NGO on the functioning of 28 information commissions across the country said the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission was not included in the study since it had given false information to an RTI application filed by the National RTI Awards Secretariat in June this year.

In its reply, the commission had claimed that it disposed off 40,400 complaints and appeals during 2008 for which the orders had been uploaded on its website, while in fact, it had uploaded only 900 orders according to the TNRTIC coordinator.

He added that the discrepancy between the disposal of 40,400 cases and the availability of only 900 orders pointed to the commission's ineffectiveness in facilitating the access of citizens to information.

The TNIC's reputation, has as a result, suffered gravely and to make matters worse it was also been disqualified for the first National RTI Awards.

Prior to the disqualification, Tamil Nadu had an impressive record of performance ranking the Second Best Information Commission in terms of pro-disclosure (a measure of the orders that were passed favouring disclosure of document).