They are the custodians of your right to information. But try asking them for information and see what is in store for you.

M.V Mysura Reddy did try . and drew a blank. Only nine commissions including the Central Information Commission responded, the rest did not even bother to acknowledge his request sent two months ago.

And it did not seem to make a difference that he is a member of the body that enacted the law more than two years ago - the Indian Parliament. The infor mation law says public authorities have to respond to RTI applications within a month and empowers the commissions to impose a penalty of Rs 250 for each day of delay beyond this period.

Disappointed, Reddy has finally complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh questioning "what moral right do these commissioners have to adjudicate RTI cases if this is how they themselves honour RTI Act". A Rajya Sabha member, Reddy said he wanted to assess the status of the implementation of the law and asked for 14 pieces of information on their working.

Of course, Reddy did not get answers even from the commissions that did respond.

"To a simple question like in how many cases did they provide infor mation and how many cases were re jected by them, they say that they do not maintain such records. I thought this was a very basic information to assess how pro-people an informa tion commission is," the MP said.

Information commissions - packed with retired bureaucrats - al ready are on the firing line from RTI activists complaining that they are far too lenient on public authorities and hardly impose penalties on the government.

Reddy also pointed to the resource crunch the commissions seemed to be facing. "The govern ment has taken credit by passing the law but seems to be strangling it by not providing adequate resources," Reddy wrote to the PM.

Magsaysay award winner for his RTI campaign, Arvind Kejriwal of Parivartan, suggested he wasn't surprised. "It is no wonder that the RTI Act is being mocked at by gov ernment officials," said Kejriwal.

"They are supposed ensure that every citizen is provided the infor mation that one seeks and penalise officials who do not provide infor mation. But how would they protect a law, which they themselves don't follow!" he said.