After Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai earlier this month announced opening of the Goa Raj Bhavan gates to the Right to Information Act, I submitted an application under this transparency law seeking copies of the letters written by then Governor Satya Pal Malik to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah from November 3, 2019 to August 18, 2020. A fortnight has elapsed and there has been no reply from our Raj Bhavan despite the law requiring that when the information is available it should be furnished forthwith though an upper limit of 30 days is provided.
We are all entitled to know what Governor Malik had written to the central leaders on the illegalities and alleged corruption by the Government headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant after which he was overnight shunted out of Goa. The fact that the Goa Raj Bhavan has not yet appointed a Public Information Officer as required under the RTI Act leaves suspicion whether it really intends on lifting that decade long veil of secrecy. Governor Pillai will have to clarify whether he truly wants to embrace the much needed RTI Act or continue keeping the functioning of his fortress under wraps.
