A Status of Information Commissions in India during the Covid-19 crisis
Report shows 21 out of 29 Information Commissions set up under the RTI Act were not holding any hearings as of May 15, 2020
Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has undertaken an assessment of the functioning of Information Commissions in India during the lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The key findings of the assessment are:
-21 commissions, out of a total of 29, were not holding any hearings as of May 15, 2020.
- Only 7 of the 29 information commissions made provision for taking up urgent matters or those related to life and liberty during the period when normal functioning was affected due to the lockdown.
- Websites of 11 commissions out of 29, had no information/notification about the functioning of the IC during lockdown.
-The websites of 3 ICs – Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Nagaland – were not accessible during the lockdown - Of the 29 ICs, commissions of Jharkhand and Tripura were found to have no commissioners for varying lengths of time. They were completely defunct as the serving information commissioner in both retired during the period of the lockdown.
-Of the 29 information commissions, 4 were functioning without a Chief Information Commissioner
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