SAIL rapped for poor RTI handling

The Central Information Commission has pulled up premier steel manufacturer SAIL over its grievance handling system, saying it was "quite ineffective and regretful".
Hearing the plea of RTI applicants whose queries were not responded to in a timely manner, Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad said the correspondences placed on record by SAIL indicated vague and ambiguous replies, none of them addressing the main query about the application for mutual transfer filed by the firm's employees.
"The appellants sought the action taken report on their application seeking mutual transfer but none of the response elicits any information in this regard," Azad said.

He said SAIL Appellate Authority has admitted during the hearing that not only its responses were belated, but also carried inadequate information.
"The Commission notes that the inordinate delay in response of the PIO reveals a poor state of affairs at the level of grievance redressal. The content of the responses furnished also indicates a very sorry handling of RTI matters, because the only information provided is about the movement of the RTI application with not even a whisper about action taken on the transfer application has been divulged," he said.
Azad said the quality of the grievance redressal as also handling RTI matters particularly is quite ineffective and regretful.

"The Commission cautions the respondent (SAIL) and expects that a public authority of the stature of SAIL will take adequate steps to improve their efficiency in handling RTI related matters and grievance redressal mechanism, to ensure that similar cases do not become a norm," he said.