No Urdu translator in Delhi CM’s office
By TCN News
New Delhi: Urdu and Punjabi became second official language of Delhi state in 2003 but almost a decade later Delhi Chief Minister is unable to answer an RTI application because it is written in Urdu and the CMO has no one with the ability to read Urdu.
Kudrutallah Khan filed an application under Right To Information (RTI) Act in Urdu with the Office of the Chief Minister of Delhi but the Public Information Officer returned his application saying that the office had no Urdu translator.
RTI activist Afroz Alam Sahil said that the act allows for RTI applications to be filed in English, Hindi, and any official language of that state. “Even in states where Urdu is the official language, RTI applications in Urdu go unanswered because there is no one to read them,” said Sahil.
Afroz Sahil who writes regular columns in various Urdu newspapers on the topic of RTI awareness told TwoCircles.net that out of 114 offices of the Delhi Government only three have positions for Urdu translators.
Sahil filed an RTI application in 2011 to find out about Urdu translators and out of the three departments only one has an active translator in one department the translator resigned and left and there has been no replacement. Third department has not seen any appointment of Urdu translators since 1992.
Kudratullah Khan filed an appeal with the Central Information Commission (CIC) saying this act of PIO was “improper and against the spirit of the RTI Act.”
In its judgment Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit sympathized with the government saying it appears that there was “no deliberate attempt on part of the PIO to withhold any information” and excused them for having “a practical difficulty.” However she directed the government to “take necessary steps to avoid such complaints from citizens” possibly hinting hiring Urdu translators.
Link:
RTI Act in Urdu: http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/rti-act/URDU.pdf