How effective is a Public Information Officer in his own Department under the RTI Act 2005?(India)?

Question

RTI Act 2005 would change our mindset towards transparency and accountability. The phrases like "system failure" would soon be obsolete. HOwever, it is difficult for an officer nominated as Public Information Officer from within the department to expose the misdeed of his own department to which he may be a passive or active party or a supervisor. If the PIO is from some other department he could be impartial, neutral and assertive. It is advisable to have PIO from outside the jurisdiction of the Information holding authority. In the present setup the PIO cannot extract information from his own office if the concerned information implicates his superiors or even his staff or subordinates. The applications under RTI Act may be received at the concerned department or at the office of the designated PIO or through online besides the post offices and may be forwarded to the respective PIO’s for which another 5-7 days of margin can be given over the 30 days period

Answer 1

Public Information Officer, many times, is definitely under pressure if he is from the same department. So many times he receives necessary instructions for dilly-dallying the matter. The more serious thing is the Appellate Authority from the same department . Then it becomes very diffcult for the information seeker if PIO and AA join hands to protect the superior.
The situation at CIC is very tight and rush of applications is piling up. If appellate rejects the information seeker's request it may take up about a year to get the final verdict and information. Something has to be done about it else the whole purpose would be defeated.
Anand Akhila
Lucknow