The Odisha government has spun the right to information on its head and insists on knowing specific identity and address details of a person questioning it for inconvenient truths. The state had now adopted a set of rules that make it compulsory for a person filing a query to a) be Indian and b) supply a proof of citizenship that is also a photo-ID.

The applicant has to submit a valid proof of citizenship, like a voter card or passport copy, along with a query. The application may be summarily rejected if the specified documents are not provided, say the Odisha right to information rules. This is in clear violation of the spirit of the landmark transparency law which inists on the state structure coming clean to the residents of India. The 2005 Act is being subverted by this particular rule as the public information officer of a government department is allowed to reject the applications received without a photo-ID, as permitted under Form-C of the state's new guidelines on RTI.

RTI activist from the state, Pradip Pradhan says information seekers are facing problems as PIOs are rejecting a number of RTI applications on grounds such as 'the photocopy of voter identity card attached as proof of citizenship is not visible'. He says PIOs shirk their duty under such absurd plea when they intend to reject RTI applications seeking sensitive information related to scams, corruption or irregularities.

The provision also limits access to information for those udner 18-years of age and not holding passports as they are ineligible for voter ID cards, the other citizenship proof that the PIOs are willing to admit. A school or college ID card is left to the discretion of a PIO for admission as ID proof.

Pradhan says that while the central Act requires the applicant to provide contact details, the documents that the government is asking for are intended to expose details like the permanent address. This could lead to harrassment and intimidation of the applicant, many fear. “It has been observed that with the identity of RTI Applicants getting exposed, the vested interest groups including the corrupt officials can reach to the concerned applicant to pursue and pressurize him to withdraw the application,” Pradhan says.

The Odisha information commission has been functional for six years now; yet, it has not made a single reccommedation for the removal of the anti-whistle-blowing provisions of the state rules. Worse, it upholds the rejection of some applications on the flimsy excuses every time a case comes up before it.

“The only lame excuse they have in defense is that the state government has framed it. And while saying so, the Commissioners ignore Section 25(5) of the Act, which authorizes the Commission to recommend to any public authority including the state govt. to take steps for removing any deviation from the Act,”  Pradhan notes.