The plight of the elected representatives came to the fore when the MLAs poured out their woes during the question hour in Assembly on Thursday.
A debate on a question raised by Chintala Ramachandra Reddy reflected the state of affairs. Even ruling party MLAs are relying on the Right to Information (RTI) Act to elicit information from the government machinery. The Real Time Governance (RTG) is not percolating down in right spirit and manner.
The MLAs, Vishnu Kumar Raju, K. Ravi Kumar, Gautu Shyam Sundar Shivaji, Bandaru Satyanartayana Murthy and others lamented that the officials would not acknowledge their representations and letters. Neither they give audience to them. The Ministers were no exception. While a receipt would be given for a petition submitted in praja vani, the Ministers would not respond. The staff at the peshis of the Ministers won’t acknowledge their letters. More horrifying thing is the peshi directing them to section and vice versa if the MLAs came up with an issue to be addressed at the Secretariat, they pointed out.
“We have to wait for 3 to 4 hours in the lobbies of the Secretariat,” said Mr. Ravi Kumar. At a time when the government was marching ahead with the RTG, the officials had no courtesy to acknowledge the mails/letters addressed to them. An acknowledgement or reply would give a clue to the MLA how to proceed further, he said.
Asserting that the officials would not share any information with the MLAs, Mr. Shivaji said, “I am forced to obtain the information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.”
Mr. Vishnu Kumar Raju said he wrote more than 2,000 letters to the GVMC Commissioner and pointed out that 50 to 60 letters were bunched together and a single acknowledgement had been given.
Intervening, Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao said, “Courtesy costs nothing. Ask the officials to respond to the MLAs’ letters.”
Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the government was issuing guidelines time to time. The guidelines had been there since 1964. A handbook was also published. Nevertheless, it would take stock of the situation and issue fresh guidelines. The matter would be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister, he said. “Not just instructions would suffice. The action should be voluntary on part of officials or Ministers.”
