A short survey of all the State Information Commissions across the Nation (on a limited parameter).

A B State Information Commission Sikkim Meghalaya Mizoram Arunachal Pradesh Uttarakhand Haryana Nagaland Punjab Tripura Himachal Pradesh Chhattisgarh Jammu & Kashmir Tamil Nadu Karnataka Andhra Pradesh Assam Jharkhand Bihar Uttar Pradesh Orissa Kerala Maharashtra Gujarat C No. of Commissioner One One One One Five Eight Three Ten One Two Three Three Five Five Nine One Two Two Three Two Five Four Three D Min To Max time for a 1st Hearing 3 to 7 days 15 to 21 Days 1 week to 1 month 15 Days to 1 months 1 month 1 to 1 months 1 to 1 months 1 to 1/2 months 15 Days to 2 months 1 to 3 months 2 to 3 months 2 to 4 months 2 to 4 months 2 to 4 months 3 to 4 months 3 to 6 months 4 to 6 months 6 months to 1 yr 8 to 9 months 7 months to 1 yr 6 months to 1 yr 15 Days to 2 yrs 1 yr to 2 yrs E

Sr. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Source of Information Secretary - 03592 - 205465 Secretary - 0364 - 2500179 Under Secretary & PIO - 0389 - 233 5542 Deputy Registrar - 09436044524 Dty Secretary - 0135 - 2675780 Secretary 94637 41410 / 0172 - 278 3670 0370 - 2291041 Deputy Registrar 0172 4630058 Secretary - 0381 - 2324146 Asst.Registrar - 0177-262 9894 PRO - 0771 4024 235 Registrar - 0191 - 252 0970 Registrar - 044 - 24357584 Secretary - 080 22371959 / 097400 54485 Secretary - 09866773624 Joseph Daniel (Activist) Secretary - 0361 222 0193 Secretary & FAA 0651 - 2401670 Registrar - 0612 - 2235059 Reception UPSIC - 0522-2288949 Urvashi Sharma (Activist) 080818 98081 Pradip Pradhan (Activist) 099378 43482 Secretary - 0471 - 2561 605 Various Ms. Pankti Jog (Activist) 09909006791 Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel Secretarys Office - 0141 - 270 8821 Manoj Kamra (Activist) 094141 39029. Secretary 033 - 24791966 Ranjoy Sinha (Activist) Aires Rodrigues (Activist) - 098226 84372 Rolly Shivhare (Activist) 09425- 466461 (more than 25,000 Appeals Pending !!!!!)

24.

Rajasthan

One

1 yr to 2 Yrs

25. 26. 27.

West Bengal Goa Madhya Pradesh

Three One Zero

5 years Non-Functional Non-Functional for last 1 year

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Phone ringing no answer - 0385 245 6302 28. Manipur Zero Non-Functional DataLink: http://tinyurl.com/Manipur-Info-Com-NonFunctional

Please Note: 1. The above data is largely based on a telephonic survey, by speaking to the people from respective State Information Commission on the designation & telephone numbers mentioned in column E, as well as, by corresponding / speaking to a few Activists from the respective State, and I am very thankful to all of them for their kind co-operation in providing the required information.

The data has been sorted on the basis of column D i.e. Minimum to Maximum time for a first hearing, And it has been gathered on the basis of two queries:

How many Information Commissioners are functional in the respective State Information Commission as on today?

What is the time i.e. number of days, weeks, months or years it takes for a first hearing to come up before the respective State Information Commission?

2.

Please note that in some Information Commissions, although the first hearing may take place comparatively quite early but then it takes multiple hearings before a case is finally disposed of.

For example in Punjab SIC the first hearing may take place in 1 to 1 months, but then it may take several hearings and up-to one year for the case to be finally disposed of.

3.

Some interesting facts & practices: Chief Minister's Role & Responsibility:

It is a lesser known fact that as per section 15(3) of the RTI Act, a Chief Minister of a State is directly responsible for implementation of RTI Act in his / her respective State,

And as such, the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Goa, Madhya Pradesh & Manipur (please refer to highlights in colour red above) are guilty of having largely FAILED in their primary responsibility of sharing information with the citizens of their State in real time.

It is also surprising to note that on the one hand Ms. Mamta Banerjee - TMC is the only Political Party which has welcomed the CIC decision whereby Political Parties have been brought under the ambit of RTI Act, but on the other hand her State has grossly failed in the implementation of RTI Act, I mean, cases pertaining to the year 2008 are being heard today, and ironically it is a fact that the CM Ms. Mamta Banerjee is directly responsible for such a failure.

In Nagaland:

There are a total of three Information Commissioners, and they always sit together in a bench for every decision taken by the Nagaland Information Commission!

In Haryana:

An interesting practice has been introduced, which if followed at other State Information Commissions, it may help reduce their pendency:

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Upon receipt of a Second Appeal: The Haryana Information Commission sends a notice titled DATE BOUND COMMISSIONS NOTICE UNDER RTI ACT, 2005" to both the parties (Respondent as well as the Appellant) in which three pre-determined DATES are listed ab-initio.

On or before the First listed Date: The Respondent (PIO) is supposed to submit his say on the second appeal filed before the Commission. This say is to be submitted to the Commission with a copy to the Appellant.

On or before the Second listed Date: The Appellant shall send a rejoinder on the aforesaid say of the Respondent (PIO). The Appellant is to send this rejoinder to the Respondent (PIO) with a copy to the Commission.

On the Third listed Date:

Finally, the pre-scheduled hearing is then held at the Commission where both the

Respondent (PIO) & Appellant are heard.

Thus, Haryana Information Commission affords one more round of rejoinder between PIO & RTI Appellant, before both of them are finally heard before the Commission. This additional round of rejoinder (with Information Commission being kept in the loop), may possibly help reduce some pendencies at Information Commissions, where there are huge pendencies and delays. Disclaimer: The above information is correct to the best of my knowledge, however errors & omissions excepted. Best Regards, Sunil Ahya. 098200 71606. sunilahya@gmail.com

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