Assam Information Commission pulls up several departments for not complying with RTI Act

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Eight departments of the state government have failed to submit their reports under Section 25(2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, to the Assam Information Commission, despite several reminders on the matter. The Commission has now recommended suitable action against these departments, which have failed to comply with the statutory provisions under Section 25(2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Along with these eight departments failing to comply fully with their submission of reports, 12 other departments only submitted partial reports, without covering all the public authorities under these departments.

Section 25(2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 states that each ministry or department must collect and provide information to the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, and this information is used to prepare reports and comply with requirements.

According to the latest annual report (2022-23) by the Assam Information Commission, the eight defaulting departments fully abstaining from submitting the reports are: Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department, Border Protection and Development Department, Cooperation Department, Home Department, Information Technology Department, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, and Tribal Affairs (Plains) Department.

Regarding these eight departments, the Commission has viewed with concern that the departments have failed to submit their reports in relation to the public authorities under their jurisdiction, as per the RTI Act, 2005, despite several reminders.

Along with the eight departments mentioned above, the Commission also observed that some departments have submitted partial reports without covering all the public authorities under them. They are as follows: Cultural Affairs Department, Excise Department, Election Department, Environment & Forest Department, General Administrative Department, Health & Family Welfare Department, Housing & Urban Affairs Department, Irrigation Department, Panchayat & Rural Development Department, School Education Department, Sports & Youth Welfare Department, and Transport Department.

In light of the failure by the departments to either submit reports at all or not fully submit them, the Assam Information Commission recommended suitable action against these defaulting departments.

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