Telangana Congress today lodged a complaint with the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) and state information commission against the blocking of the government website curtailing the public access to the orders issued by the government.
Writing a letter to this effect to Radhakrishna Mathur , CIC, New Delhi, Telangana Congress chief spokesperson Dr Sravan Dasoju said the state government’s closing of the only window into what was happening in the government was undemocratic and dictatorial. This was a clear case of violation of Chapter-2, section 3, 4(1)(a); 4(1)(b); 4(1)(c);4(1)(d); 4(2); 4(3); 4(4) of Right o Information Act – 2005 and by this Telangana government also violated the article 19(1)(a) of Indian constitution affecting the very spirit of freedom of speech and expression, Dr Dasoju said.
“The RTI Act amply clarifies that it is mandatory on the part of the state or central governments to publish all the government orders and policies in public domain including presenting them through internet so that even a common man can access the information without any difficulty and cost,” he said in the letter. “It is also a constitutional right to people of India to have access to the decisions taken by the government so that they can freely voice their opinions and express concerns of such decisions, unless otherwise those decisions or policies pertain to the aspects as mentioned in the article 19(2) of Indian Constitution,” Dr Dasoju said.
Stating that the GOs were mere executive orders of the decision taken by the government, the Congress chief spokesperson said, neither was there a valid rationality to block the website and nor does it comply with any of the constitutional provisions. ” In fact, this decision is nothing but scuttling of democracy and ridiculing the spirit of Indian Constitution,” he said. The intent of Telangana government, according to Dr Dasoju, clearly reflects their feudal mindset that they do not want to be transparent enough in terms of governance and also obstruct the people in gaining the capacity, by keeping them in dark. He lamented that the party’s repeated appeals to unblock the website and restore transparency and accountability of the government had been ignored by the state government.
“We appealed the State Governor of Telangana and Chief Minister to get the website restored. Unfortunately, none have shown any courtesy even to reply or respond to our plea,” he said. He requested the chief information commissioner to intervene to uphold the public’s right to information in order promote transparency and accountability in the government.
