Chief Justice S.A. Bobde recently observed that the Right to Information Act was being abused and spoke about the Maharashtra administration being "paralysed". He argued for filtering requests based on locus standi.
High volume State
The graph shows the average number of RTIs filed per year and the absolute number of appeals/complaints filed, between 2005 and 2016 for all States. Maharashtra received more RTIs per year than the Central government in the period.
Requests aplenty
High volume State RTI - Dec 2019
Poor disclosures
The RTI act mandates Public Authorities (PA) to suo motu disclose information. Such disclosures will decrease citizen requests as they will not seek information already available. A transparency audit by the government found poor levels of such disclosures among 2092 central PAs. In fact, nearly 60% of the PAs did not respond to the audit.
Audit performance
Poor disclosures RTI - Dec 2019
For instance, 515 PAs got the poorest grade for voluntary disclosure and 292 PAs got the poorest grade in overall performance.
Vacancies aplenty
Also, not fulfilling up vacancies on time has led to piling up of backlogs. The list shows vacancies in various Information Commissions which were not filled on time as of October 2019.
Lack of manpower
Vacancies aplenty RTI - Dec 2019
Rejection rate
By increasing disclosures and filling vacancies, the RTI load can be eased. But, if the locus standi of applicants is made a criteria, the rejection rate, which has steadily declined over time, will rise significantly.
All-time low
