Hyderabad: There is a drastic fall in the number of government orders (GOs) being uploaded on various state-run websites. Around 10 government departments headed by Telangana ministers, are not uploading all the orders on the official website.
The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) department headed by Minister K.T. Rama Rao, uploaded 776 GOs in 2015. In 2016 this dropped to 508 and in 2017 to just five.
Likewise the General Administration Depart-ment (GAD), the portfolio held by TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, uploaded 3,920 GOs in 2015, 1,409 in 2016 and 599 in 2017.
It is the same case with the home department headed by Naini Narsimha Reddy, and with the higher education ministry headed by Deputy CM Kadiam Srihari, irrigation and command area development, held by minister T. Harish Rao, panchayat raj and rural development, revenue, and roads and buildings.
It all began in 2016, when the government issued a GO for payment of lawyer’s fee to defend an officer.
This was considered a private matter for which the officer concerned should have paid and a PIL was filed in the High Court.
This PIL was reviewed by the government at a meeting in February 2016 and it was after this meeting that public access to certain GOs was restricted.
Citizens can question GOs
There is a drastic fall in the number of government orders (GOs) being uploaded on various government websites. Arou-nd 10 government departments headed by Telan-gana ministers, are not uploading all the orders on the official website.
M. Padmanabha Reddy, secretary, Forum for Good Governance, which has studied this subject for over two years, said, “From the decline it is clear that the government is curtailing uploading GOs on its website and those uploaded are not of public interest. Since 2015 the work taken up by the government has multiplied and as a result more number of GOs should be issued and uploaded, but the decrease paints another picture. Why are major decisions and policies not being uploaded? As a result people are unaware of many important strategies being taken up."
The rule under Section 4 (1) (c) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act says the state government must publish all relevant documents while formulating important policies that affect the public. Also, Section 4 (1) (d) of the Act says that the government should provide reasons for its administrative decisions that are in connection with citizens. However, the decrease in number of GOs being uploaded shows that the government is operating contrary to the rules.
Citizens should note that if the government issues a GO against the public interest, one has the right to question and hold the government accountable in a court. Congress leader Dasoju Shravan in 2016 filed a writ petition in the High Court against the decision of the government to shut down certain websites publishing GOs. He told Deccan Chronicle, “There is lack of transparency; why is the government concealing a few GOs? When questioned in the Assembly the government termed these GOs as confidential. Why are people kept in the dark if it’s in public interest?”
