CIC briefs Union minister about 'progressively improving' disposal rate of RTI applications

New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha called on Union Minister of State for Public Grievances Jitendra Singh on Tuesday to brief him about the current status of the disposal and pendency of the RTI applications across the country.

During the hour-long meeting with the minister, the CIC gave a brief about the "progressively improving" disposal rate of the RTI applications in spite of the pandemic induced disruptions in recent times.

The minister noted that the pendency reduced from about 29,000 cases last year to around 19,000 cases at present, while the disposal of cases increased from 28,793 in 2021-22 to 29,104 in 2022-23.

The CIC also informed the minister that in June 2020, in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, the monthly disposal rate of RTI applications was higher than the rate in the corresponding month of June 2019. He said that this was possible because the Central Information Commission "had carried on its work uninterrupted even during the Covid times by using modern technology of online, virtual and video conferences".

According to Sinha, in Jammu & Kashmir, where the Central Information Commission's jurisdiction was extended only three years ago after the state turned into Union Territory, out of 844 RTI applications registered in 2020-21, 301 were disposed of. In 2021-22, 297 new RTI applications were registered and 114 were disposed of. Similarly, in 2022-23, 293 new RTI applications were registered and 697 were disposed of, including those from the backlog of the earlier years.