Bihar official demands huge amount for information under RTI

Patna, Dec 3 (IANS) A Bihar government official has reportedly demanded Rs.137,000 from a lawyer for providing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Ashok Kumar, a lawyer, was ordered to pay the sum when he wanted to know how many public distribution system shops there were in Patna's Athamgola block, with names of shopkeepers, their addresses and licence numbers.        
Kumar also wanted the list of people below the poverty line in the block, and the amount of kerosene and foodgrains they receive.        
He had initially sought these details from block officials in early September. After waiting in vain for over a month, Kumar approached a sub-divisional official Oct 19 for the information under the RTI Act.        
But Kumar was stunned when the official told him to pay Rs.137,000 towards the cost of collecting the information and photocopying the records.        
"After the block official asked me to pay a huge amount for the information, I lodged a complaint with the state information commission," Kumar told IANS here Thursday.        
Bihar information commissioner Ashok Choudhary was not available for comment, despite repeated attempts to contact him.        
An official in the commission said they would look into Kumar's complaint.        
This was not the first time a petitioner was told by officials to pay a huge amount for information under the RTI Act.         
RTI activists in Bihar described the incident as a move to discourage and harass petitioners. "It is common practice to harass petitioners seeking information under the RTI," Rupesh, who is associated with the NGO Suchna Adhikar Abhiyan, said.        
Last month the state government launched a helpline for those seeking information under the RTI Act and said stern action would be taken against officials found guilty of harassing petitioners. Official sources said that 42,000 of the 50,000 applications received under the RTI Act during 2007-08 have been disposed of.        
However, RTI activists and opposition leaders have been protesting the changes made to the RTI in Bihar by the state government. Now a person cannot seek more than one piece of information in one application and will have to pay Rs.10 per query whereas earlier several queries could be put through in one petition at the same cost.          
The activists have launched a signature campaign across the state and plan to stage a statewide sit-in against the move.        
Deepak Kumar, principal secretary of the personnel and administrative reforms department, said: "The changes were made to make RTI more effective and prevent its misuse. They were as per central government guidelines."