Govt & EC Fight Over RTI Portal, Nearly 2,000 RTIs Lie Unanswered

Around 1,951 applications have gone unanswered while the EC & DoPT debate if the EC belongs on the RTI Online Portal

The Election Commission has been demanding its removal from the RTI Online Portal in a series of letters between the the ECI & DoPT

(Photo: The Quint)

In the last nine months, the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) have been writing to each other about RTI Online. While the ECI wants its name to be removed from the RTI Online Portal, the DoPT has other plans.

In the midst of this tussle, 100s of RTI applications addressed to the ECI remain unanswered on the RTI Online portal.

Factly had earlier reported on how the ECI is reluctant to be part of RTI Online, the online portal of the Government of India that is used for filing Right to Information (RTI) applications online.

It is now known that close to 2,000 RTI applications addressed to the ECI remain unanswered on the RTI Online portal. Amidst the ongoing tussle between the government and ECI, the citizen is the ultimate sufferer.

‘Remove our name from the portal: ECI’

In February 2017, the Under Secretary and the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the ECI wrote to the DG of the National Informatics Center with a request that the ECI’s name be immediately removed from the RTI Online portal since it was not a part of it.

The letter demanding the removal of the ECI from the RTI Online Portal(Photo Courtesy: Factly)

In response to that letter from the ECI, the Under Secretary in the DoPT said that it is not possible to remove ECI’s name from the portal since it was not an exempted organization (as per Section 24 of the RTI act). Further, he offered training to the nodal officers in ECI in case they face difficulties in using the RTI Online portal.

DoPT response stating that the ECI cannot be exempted from the portal(Photo Courtesy: Factly)

ECI Writes to DoPT Again

The ECI had written one more letter to the DoPT in April 2017 with a similar request, that its name be removed till the ECI approves using RTI Online. He further asked the DoPT to inform all the applicants whose applications are pending on the RTI Online portal to file them in physical form once again.

ECI writes another letter demanding its removal from the RTI Online Portal again(Photo Courtesy: Factly)

It has to be noted that the DoPT has not informed even a single applicant whose RTI application is pending with the ECI, that the ECI is not accepting applications filed through the online portal.

In fact, the DoPT had once again written to the ECI in August 2017 reminding them that a number of applications filed with the ECI are pending, and that the nodal officer is not forwarding them to the relevant CPIO.

DoPT writes to ECI stating they are required to forward pending RTI applications to the concerned CPIO(Photo Courtesy: Factly)

In response to another complaint, the ECI in November 2017 has categorically stated that it is not part of the RTI Online portal and that it is developing its own facility for online applications.

ECI responds to another complaint, stating that it isn’t a part of the RTI Online Portal.(Photo Courtesy: Factly)

The Citizen Is the Ultimate Victim

In this tussle between the ECI and the government, it is the citizen who is ultimately suffering. Both the organisations have done precious little to help the hundreds of applicants who have filed applications on the portal.

The ECI could have easily accepted the existing applications while notifying on its portal about it not being a part of RTI Online.

The DoPT on the other hand could have informed all the applicants that the ECI is refusing to accept such applications. With their hardened positions, neither is helping the citizen.

(This article was originally published on Factly and has been republished with permission)

(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT in partnership with #MyRightToBreathe to find a solution to pollution. Send in your suggestions to [e-mail] or WhatsApp @ [phone])