Whenever I visited the PCCF Office to file RTI applications , I filed a number of applications since I was spending money and time . Therefore, the PIO used to dread my visits and not without reason. Consternation and horror greeted the applications and the assistants long used to a generation of secrecy found it hard to throw open the doors of the office to an inquisitive citizen. However, I did have a lot of genuine interest to ascertain how the office functions, how proposals for forest diversion are cleared , which officers are in charge of which job, how do transfers take place, etc. My head was buzzing with questions and many a time I fIled a series of applications due to my deep urge to find out.
By December,2006 most assistants and officers in the office had bought their own copy of the RTI Act . To most the Act was Greek as none had been trained in the use of the Act. Therefore, convenience took over as most applications were not responded to properly . There was a desperate scramble to chuck the application to some other section or to say that inapplicable sections exempted disclosure. I had to move the First Appellate Authority a number of times during 2007 and 2008 to get the desired information. The hearings were interesting and worth reporting. However, more of it in my next post.
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