Citizens will soon be able to file Right to Information (RTI) applications related to state departments while sitting at home.
The state government on Thursday decided to evolve an RTI portal for a single-point access to all information and services under the sunshine Act.
According to Nandkumar Jantre, secretary, general administration department (administrative reforms), government of Maharashtra, the main objective of setting up the portal is to allow online filing of applications. He added that the portal will also facilitate tracking the status of an RTI application online. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to discuss the implementation of recommendations made by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission.
The portal will also reduce RTI-related paperwork for government offices and provide a common platform for making and updating voluntary disclosures. Jantre further said that the portal will facilitate centralized monitoring of the status of RTI applications, enabling detection of cases where applications have not been disposed off in time. Jantre said that the plan was to launch the portal within two months.
In another citizen-centric decision, Chavan directed authorities to ensure that all departments and government offices compulsorily display and observe the citizen's charter, which assigns a fixed time-frame for delivery of services. In fact, the Chavan-led government has even decided to examine the feasibility of introducing a new legislation in the form of the Right to Services Act to fix penalties on officials failing to observe the time-limit for delivery of various services.
The central commission, which was led by union minister Veerappa Moily, has submitted 15 reports recommending measures to improve ethics, accountability, and transparency in administration. Some of these include decentralization of powers, expanding e-governance, strengthening the Lokayukta, and regular online updates of government resolutions, and decisions. With implementation of these reforms necessitating a major administrative overhaul and infrastructure upgrade, Chavan decided to appoint a high-powered committee under chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad to monitor and drive its implementation. A task force will be appointed in each department to implement the reforms.
Chavan also directed officials to strengthen the public grievance system and extend the Lokshahi Din to taluka level during the meeting. Discussions on filling up vacancies at a war footing and revisions in pay grades for employees were also discussed, officials said.
