Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, November 27
About 70 per cent applicants seek information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act for personal reasons. Very few seek information in public interest. Bhim Sen, Chief Information Commissioner, said this while addressing a press conference at Dharamsala today.
He said the number of applications under the Act has increased from 2,654 in 2006 to 61,202 in 2012-13. The number of people appealing for a second time has also increased in the state, from 52 in 2006 to about 693 last year.
Since the percentage of second appeals is just about 10 per cent of the total applications, it can be implied that the public authorities appointed in the state were doing their work efficiently, Bhim Sen said.
While responding to queries regarding holding the courts of state information commission at district levels, he said there was no need of setting up such courts at the district level. The courts were already being held at the division level.
Taking into consideration the number of cases coming up for second appeal, setting up of courts at division level was serving the purpose, he added.
The Chief Information Commissioner said presently there were 110 public authorities appointed in various departments of government that provided information sort under the RTI. The delivery of information in the state was among the best in the country.
The increased awareness regarding Act in Himachal Pradesh was motivating more people to use it.
He added that the cases of denial of information coming up under the first or second appeal were also decided within time. Presently, there were 19 pending
cases before the state information commission.