NEW DELHI: A Transparency International India report indicates an alarming rise in the number of RTI requests being rejected by various arms of the government. The report, based on data from the latest annual report of the Central Information Commission (CIC), says the Ministry of Finance has rejected the most RTIs — 27,833, or 18.41 per cent of the total 1,51,186 applications received.
This is followed by the Ministry of Communication and IT, which rejected 2,826 of the 1,03,508 requests it received, and the Ministry of Railways, rejecting 814 of the 99,255 RTIs filed in 2016-17. Ironically, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi has climbed up that chart, from 9th in 2014-15, when it came to power, to third the next year and fourth in 2016-17.
Kejriwal and his party had based their campaign on using the RTI to expose political corruption. According to the latest data, 433 of the 87,828 requests filed across various sections of the Delhi government were rejected. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas rejected 1806 of the 1,88,99 RTI applications received. The PMO, which rejected 1306 of the 1,27,87 requests, ranks 13th.
“Most governments have been reluctant to RTI, but what is unfortunate under the current regime at the Centre is that the message that is being given from the top that the PM’s mark sheet should not be shared. This sends a wrong signal. Other parties have not been any better. But the party which started with an RTI movement is today not willing to answer the questions,” said Yogendra Yadav, founder of Swaraj Abhiyan party.