Gandhinagar: Gujarat's push for digital governance has encountered an unexpected obstacle. The State Information Commission (SIC) has discovered that 6,659 government offices are absent from the state's online Right to Information (RTI) portal. State Information Commissioner Nikhil Bhatt issued an order describing this as an "administrative oversight" that has created a digital blackout, preventing citizens from selecting the correct authorities from the portal's drop-down menu.
Mapping Failure Causes Citizen Harassment
Bhatt observed, "The main reason is that nodal officers have not properly mapped the public information officers (PIOs) and first appellate authorities (FAAs) of all public authorities under their control." This mapping failure forces citizens to misdirect applications to the Chief Minister's Office or nodal departments. The commission noted that this "tarnishes the image of the state government" and causes "unnecessary burden" and "harassment" to applicants.
Departments with Most Missing Offices
The energy and petrochemicals department leads with 1,172 unmapped offices, followed by Narmada and water resources (780), and the revenue department (610). Other major departments failing the transparency test include agriculture and farmers welfare (532), health and family welfare (485), roads and buildings (474), panchayat and rural development (454), labour and employment (393), home (361), and finance (233).
Citizen Complaint Reveals Digital 'No-Man's Land'
The order was issued after the SIC heard a complaint filed by citizen Dikshitkumar Talpada. He had sought logs and internal movement records of his previous first appeals and discovered that his applications were disappearing into a digital "no-man's land." During the hearing, it was revealed that while the state promotes an "e-Sarkar" (electronic government) system, the backend integration with the RTI portal was broken.
90-Day Ultimatum and Modernization Recommendations
Refusing to accept technical glitches as an excuse, the commission issued a 90-day ultimatum to all nodal officers to complete the mapping of every office. To modernize the process, the order recommends integrating "modern AI tools" and an "advanced search feature" to track applicant history and prevent redundant queries. The SIC has also demanded that the portal allow a single application to be directed to multiple PIOs simultaneously. Bhatt also directed nodal officers to conduct monthly reviews to ensure no office remains "off the grid."
