ONLY 10 Right To Information (RTI) appeals have been posted on the Delhi Government’s Public Grievances Commission (PGC) website launched in March this year as against nearly 400 applications submitted in person.
Appeals are admitted by the Commission if a citizen does not get the required information through an RTI application.
PGC chairperson Shailaja Chandra said: ‘‘We want more and more people to file their appeals online. The application fee can be deposited when they come for the first hearing.’’ PGC levies a nominal fee of Rs 50.
Besides the RTI appeals, the Commission also admits people’s grievances against government departments. In this case, the PGC has received less than 100 complaints online in the last eight months while appeals filed in person run up to 700.
‘‘The PGC website is user-friendly where one can lodge complaints through a link. There is only one condition for lodging a complaint. The person should have filed a complaint with the department and should have received a copy of the complaint as proof,’’ said Chandra.
‘‘One has to furnish one’s name, address contact numbers and e-mail id, along with a brief description of the grievance,’’ a PGC official said.
After the complaint is received, PGC officials check with the complainant and fix a date for hearing with the concerned government officials. The matter, say officials, is usually sorted out in about two months.
Although online registration has not picked up, the Commission is going full throttle as regards case disposal. ‘‘We have been clearing 50 to 100 cases every month, although we keep getting almost an equal number of complaints every month,’’ Chandra said.
As on October 31, the number of pending RTI appeals is 122 and the number of pending complaints is 273. The PGC even puts some cases ‘‘under hibernation’’—where the orders for speedy redressal have been passed but the action taken report is awaited.
Commission says it’s speeding disposal
Although online registration has not picked up, the Public Grievances Commission is going full throttle as regards case disposal.
‘‘We have been clearing 50 to 100 cases every month, although we keep getting almost an equal number of complaints every month,’’ said Shailaja Chandra, PGC chairperson.
As on October 31, the number of pending RTI appeals is 122 and the number of pending complaints is 273.