PANAJI: After the Constitution, the Right to Information (RTI) Act is one of the best tools for good governance in the country, but it is still new and we will try to organize training programmes for government departments in RTI, Goa chief information commissioner (CIC) Leena Mehendale told TOI on Wednesday. She was sworn in as Goa CIC on October 24.
In an exclusive interview with TOI, Mehendale also said that she hopes to clear up the pendency of about 1,300 RTI complaints and appeals with the information commission within four months. Mehendale has filled the post that was vacant for about 15 months and she will herself get 15 months as Goa CIC before her term ends.In a candid admission, Mehendale, a former bureaucrat, said that "historically, government officers are not used to giving information" unless they are dealing with legislative assembly questions. But the RTI Act requires that information be dispensed within a particular time-frame and therefore, "some discipline will have to be set in".
In an exclusive interview with TOI, Mehendale also said that she hopes to clear up the pendency of about 1,300 RTI complaints and appeals with the information commission within four months. Mehendale has filled the post that was vacant for about 15 months and she will herself get 15 months as Goa CIC before her term ends.In a candid admission, Mehendale, a former bureaucrat, said that "historically, government officers are not used to giving information" unless they are dealing with legislative assembly questions. But the RTI Act requires that information be dispensed within a particular time-frame and therefore, "some discipline will have to be set in".
Reiterating that government officers are "not geared to disclose information", Mehendale feels that the RTI Act is still young in India and that part of her job is to facilitate training among government offices in order to bring transparency in governance. But she is aware that she does not have the means and not even the premises for the purpose. Mehendale says central government grants can be availed of for this purpose.
First she has to get her own house in order. Her office computer does not have an internet connection, the post of state information commission is vacant, a number of other posts are vacant and the present office at the Panaji Patto plaza is cramped. During her recent courtesy call on chief minister Manohar Parrikar, she has apprised him of all these problems and he was very supportive, she says. In fact, he has even allocated new premises for the state information commission in the old Goa medical college building at Ribandar. The renovation will take two or three months, Mehendale said.
Has she heard of the perception in some quarters that the present BJP government is making it difficult to obtain information under RTI? She has. In fact, some RTI activists who came to welcome her told her about a government circular that made it mandatory for RTI applicants to file an affidavit regarding their citizenship. But when she took up the matter with the chief minister, he explained that it was wrongly worded and that he had instructed that the circular be withdrawn.
What made her give up her cushy job as member of central administrative tribunal in Mumbai and come to Goa? "In Mumbai, even if you look from the corner of your eyes, all you see is concrete. In Goa, you see green surroundings, open spaces, blue skies and blue seas," said Mehendale, who loves classical music and has written 24 books, including six on administration.
First she has to get her own house in order. Her office computer does not have an internet connection, the post of state information commission is vacant, a number of other posts are vacant and the present office at the Panaji Patto plaza is cramped. During her recent courtesy call on chief minister Manohar Parrikar, she has apprised him of all these problems and he was very supportive, she says. In fact, he has even allocated new premises for the state information commission in the old Goa medical college building at Ribandar. The renovation will take two or three months, Mehendale said.
Has she heard of the perception in some quarters that the present BJP government is making it difficult to obtain information under RTI? She has. In fact, some RTI activists who came to welcome her told her about a government circular that made it mandatory for RTI applicants to file an affidavit regarding their citizenship. But when she took up the matter with the chief minister, he explained that it was wrongly worded and that he had instructed that the circular be withdrawn.
What made her give up her cushy job as member of central administrative tribunal in Mumbai and come to Goa? "In Mumbai, even if you look from the corner of your eyes, all you see is concrete. In Goa, you see green surroundings, open spaces, blue skies and blue seas," said Mehendale, who loves classical music and has written 24 books, including six on administration.
