Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying that his government would not water down the Right to Information act, is highly welcome. However, for quite long it is the experience in Kerala that RTI is toothless.
In Kerala RTI petitions are not settled in the stipulated time frame. No fine is imposed on offenders of RTI Act. The commissioners are appointed on political basis and in most cases they take a partisan approach. Some cases are attended irrationally and some others set aside for silly reasons. Time frame, the most significant aspect of RTI, is often ignored. Since this and last governments are in a don' t care attitude many dissatisfied activists abandoned RTI.
Unless some stern steps are taken by the government to strengthen the State Information Commission it would turn out into a damp squib.
K A Solaman
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