Maharashtra yet to implement 2013 Lokayukta Act: RTI

It has been over two years now and the Maharashtra government has been indecisive, said the RTI activist

The Maharashtra government has not yet implemented the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 more than two years after it had been passed and brought into force, according to an RTI activist.

The section 63 of the 2013 Act mentions the state which never had a Lokayukta needs to implement the Act within one year of its enforcement, but there is no specific time-frame for its implementation for the state which has a Lokayukta, an RTI response said in a query by Jeetendra Ghadge.

However, in August earlier this year, Maharashtra appointed Justice M L Tahaliyani as the new Lokayukta of the state in accordance with the Maharashtra Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayuktas Act 1971, according to the activist.

Maharashtra was the first state in the country to appoint a Lokayukta way back in 1971 under the act.

The Congress-led Union government in 2013 had brought new guidelines to appoint Lokayukta in the state.

"It seems that the Lokayukta appointed under the guidelines of the new act won't see the light of the day in the state. It has been over two years now and the Maharashtra government has been indecisive," Ghadge said.

In a question on the departments authorized to implement the new Act, the RTI reply by the state Undersecretary enumerated the state's General Administration Department (GAD) and seven authorities, including the Chief Minister, Minister of State for Home, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Undersecretary and Desk Officer, as the officials concerned.