GOs vanish online: Telangana government under fire for opaqueness

Activists argue that the Congress, despite its promises, continues to withhold crucial information, raising questions about governance and public accountability.

Published Mar 29, 2025 | 8:00 AMUpdated Mar 29, 2025 | 8:00 AM

The Government of Telangana is under fire for not publishing GOs online

Synopsis: The AIMIM staged a walkout from the Telangana Assembly after their queries regarding GOs and BROs went unanswered. Akbaruddin Owaisi accused the Congress of stifling Opposition voices, asserting that the Assembly was not being run democratically. Meanwhile, concerns over transparency have intensified, as data shows a steady decline in the number of GOs published online.

Recently, the Telangana Assembly witnessed political turbulence as the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) staged a walkout, protesting the government’s failure to address their queries on Government Orders (GOs).

AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi accused the Congress of stifling Opposition voices, asserting that the Assembly was not being run democratically.

Meanwhile, concerns over transparency have intensified, as data shows a steady decline in the number of GOs published online.

Activists argue that the Congress, despite its promises, continues to withhold crucial information, raising questions about governance and public accountability.

Also Read: Telangana Cabinet expansion likely before Ugadi

AIMIM stages walkout

The AIMIM staged a walkout from the Telangana Assembly after their queries regarding GOs and budget release orders (BROs) went unanswered. AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi accused the ruling Congress of suppressing opposition voices and mismanaging the Assembly proceedings.

He criticised Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar for curtailing the Question Hour and altering key queries, asserting that the Assembly was not being run democratically.

Owaisi remarked, “This is an Assembly, not Gandhi Bhavan,” implying that the ruling party treated the legislature like its party office.

The Speaker attempted to reassure AIMIM that their concerns would be addressed, but the party remained dissatisfied and protested by walking out.

The walkout reflects ongoing political friction in Telangana’s Assembly, as Opposition parties seek clarity on administrative decisions and accuse the ruling party of avoiding crucial discussions.

Decline in GOs available online

A graph showing the number of available GOs.

A graph showing the number of available GOs.

The government of Telangana uploads its GOs on a public website called the Government of Telangana Government Order Issue Register. According to the available data, 82,700 GOs have been available since the state’s inception on 2 June 2014. 10,282 GOs issued within the first six months are accessible on the site.

Subsequently, this number doubled in 2015 at 21,702 before falling to 13,249 in 2016.

Since 2017, the uploaded GOs have remained in the four digits, gradually declining.

There was a consistent decline from 8,762 in 2017 to 3,818 in 2020. There was a bump in the numbers to 4,318 in 2021. However, it went down to 2.801 in 2022 and 2,389 in 2023.

However, there has been a slight increase yet again to about 3,567 in the 15 months since Congress took charge.

Also Read: ‘Will they stop abusing me if I turn nice to them?’ asks Telangana CM

‘Deviating from the promise of transparency’

Social activist SQ Masood said the erstwhile BRS government used to follow the same pattern and added, “The Congress’ actions are against the essence of the Right To Information (RTI) Act,” he stated.

“Before coming to power, the Congress promised to be transparent. It promised it would upload the GOs to the registry. Yet, it failed,” he noted. “In fact, the Congress is in clear violation of Article 4(1)(b) of the Right to Information Act,” he said.

Article 4(1)(b) of the Right To Information Act details that the government must publish its Government orders and other such documents to the public.

“Back in the day, KTR (BRS Working President KT Rama Rao) held that there should be no intervention in the government’s functioning. To him, publishing the GOs meant inviting questions. Inviting questions meant inviting a headache regarding their wrongdoings or lapses,” Masood alleged.

“Till now there’s been no information commissioner. The Congress is trying to hide information. That is against the principles of good governance,” he held.

“Such actions, diminish the confidence among the people. This is ironic because the centre professes the greatness of RTI but the state does not honour it,”  he pointed out.

Furthermore, Masood revealed a real-life example where the lack of information has caused issues for the public. “We have been demanding the release of information regarding scholarships. Recently, a scholarship student was being hounded by a university administration. However, we had no way to stand up to them. There was no notification of the guidelines or timeline,” Masood explained.

Masood further elaborated on the caste census and the information gaps within. “Recently, the Congress government held a caste census, one of their major promises. Yet, they refused to table the report itself in the special Assembly session. They discussed a statement on it, but not the report itself,” he said.

“With no proof of data or the Shameem Akhtar report available publicly, the Congress went ahead with two major decisions. They passed policies for both the BCs (Backward Classes) and the SCs (Scheduled Castes) although they adopted the census without any discussion,” he continued.

“This kind of governance was not expected of the Congress,” he added.

(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)

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