In 1956, There was a major change in the boundaries of Indian States along linguistic lines. It was a result of State Reorganization Act, 1956. After independence there was a strong political demand to create states based on linguistic criterion.
In 2014, World is a global village and there are no linguistic boundaries. If i have to take my example, i have changed 4 cities in last 8 years. Thankfully, English is “unofficially” accepted as official language everywhere.
As per RTI Act, we can seek information in English, Hindi or Local Language i.e. In Maharashtra, i can seek information in Marathi besides English or Hindi. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, i can seek information in Tamil, English or Hindi. Unfortunately reverse is not true i.e. Departments/Public authorities of state Governments are not providing information in these 3 languages i.e. English, Hindi or Local Language.
Recently i observed that some the departments/public authorities of State Governments are providing RTI information only in local language through their official website. I am specifically quoting following 2 examples
1. Department of Cooperation, Govt of Karnataka (Information available only in Kannada)
website: http://sahakara.kar.gov.in/RTI.html
2. Women and Child Development Department, Govt of Maharashtra (Information available only in Marathi)
website: https://womenchild.maharashtra.gov.in/Sitemap/womenchild/pdf/17%20babinchi%20mahiti.pdf
There are so many other examples from state govt official website. Unfortunately, if you don’t understand local language then RTI Act is non existent for you.
To resolve this mystery, i raised following RTI Queries to Department of Personnel & Training under RTI Act
RTI Query 1: In which all language it is mandatory for departments/public authorities of state governments to provide information to General Public under RTI Act on respective official website
RTI Query 2: Are departments/public authorities of State Governments exempted from providing information under RTI Act in National Language of India i.e. Hindi on respective official website
RTI Query 3: Are departments/public authorities State Governments exempted from providing information under RTI Act in Secondary official Language of India i.e. English on respective official website
RTI Query 4: Has department of personnel & training instructed/directed departments/public authorities of state governments to provide information under RTI Act in Hindi or English on respective official website besides information in local language. Kindly share circular in this regard
RTI Query 5: If departments/public authorities of State Governments are not providing information in Hindi/English through official websites then what is the penalty provision on departments/public authorities of state governments
RTI Query 6: What is the action taken by department of Personnel and Training on departments/public authorities of State Governments which are not providing RTI information in Hindi or English through respective official website.
RTI Query 7: If department of Personnel and Training cannot take action on departments/public authorities of State Governments to provide information under RTI Act in Hindi or English through respective official website of State Government departments/public authorities then which Central Govt Department is responsible for implementation/enforcement of same.
RTI Query 8: If department of Personnel and Training & any Central Govt department cannot take action on departments/public authorities of State Governments to provide information under RTI Act in Hindi or English through respective official website of State Government departments/public authorities then which state govt department is responsible for implementation of same.
RTI Query 9: Facility of submitting online RTI Application for Departments/ Public authorities under the State Governments is whose responsibility. Is there any timeline for implementation of same.
I am awaiting revert from Department of Personnel & Training. I will share the response with my readers as and when i will receive the same.
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This is a national issue, should have been considered by CIC New Delhi till now.
The reply i received from PIO did not answered my queries. I have filed First appeal against the same
Hi, Have you received any response after filing your first appeal
I received reply.
I have have shared all the queries in my post.
Thanks. I wanted to know what was the outcome of theFirst Appeal or Second Appeal. The CIC in Jaikumar Jain case had held that the information should be provided in the language in which the Appellant wants
I will share the revert in separate post.
Dear Nitin,
I am keenly waiting for your post
Regards
Dhanshyam
Sir i will update you when i will publish. Currently due to some other priorities it is not in my content plan.