Rohtak, June 2 -- Twenty years after the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Haryana, the state information commission has been burdened with piling backlog. Figures obtained through an RTI application reveal that more than 7,000 appeals and complaints are pending before the state information commission. The Act came to force in October 12, 2005, and the commission was formed in the same year on October 31. Since its constitution, the commission has received a total of 1,13,897 second appeals and 12,629 complaints till February 2026, reveals the data provided by the commission under the RTI Act to activist PP Kapoor of Panipat. The commission has managed to dispose of 1,08,288 second appeals and 11,186 complaints, but 5,609 appeals and 1,443 complaints remain pending as of February 2026, the data further reveals. The pendency is being aggravated by a shortage of commissioners and vacant posts, the report reveals. As per the information, five out of the 10 sanction posts of information commissioners in the state information commission are vacant. Figures between 2021 and December 2025 reveal that penalties worth over Rs.1.14 crore imposed on officials by the commission remain pending. These include Rs.37.31 lakh in 2021, Rs.18.23 lakh in 2022, Rs.25.17 lakh in 2023, Rs.22.84 lakh in 2024 and Rs.11.25 lakh in 2025. The commission also issued more than 33,000 show-cause notices to SPIOs under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act for delay, denial or incomplete information, the information further reveals. However, penalties were imposed only in around 4,000 cases. The RTI reply also reveals that the Haryana state information commission has spent over Rs.113.42 crore on salaries, allowances and administrative expenditure during the last 20 years. Based on the total expenditure and the number of appeals and complaints filed over two decades, the average expenditure incurred by the commission works out to approximately Rs.7,500 per case. If capital expenditure on infrastructure is included, the cost rises to nearly Rs.10,700 per appeal or complaint. Apart from this, around Rs.48 crore was spent on the construction of the commission's building and other capital expenditure. This takes the total expenditure linked to the commission to nearly Rs.161.42 crore since the RTI Act came into force. During the same period, the government spent only Rs.2,49,936 on creating public awareness about the RTI Act, 2005, while not a single rupee was spent on awareness campaigns during the past 15 years, reveals the information....