Livemint: New Delhi: Saturday, July 08, 2017.
Can a Right
to Information (RTI) application solve someone’s water woes? To highlight that
there is no water for people coming to the post office and that the building of
a post office is an unsafe one, a citizen in Rajasthan used RTI and now the
Central Information Commission (CIC).
The
appellant, Charanjeet Singh Nagpal, had sought details like whether they know
that the building of the ‘Anupgarh post office’ is declared unsafe and can fall
anytime, number of computers and how many are in working conditions,
alternative sources of power supply , drinking water arrangement for public
etc.
However, the
post office officials stonewalled his queries and refused to provide any
information. Following this, the appellant complained to the CIC which is
India’s apex body under RTI Act, 2005.
In its
decision on Wednesday, CIC came down heavily on the errant post official
officials and issued a show-cause notice to them asking why they should not be
penalized for not providing the information.
“The post
office has posted an inhuman reply to this RTI application. Like a mindless
clerk or heartless babu, the CPIO (Central Public Information Officer) denied
information saying that the questions do not fall under definition of
‘information’. It is an inhuman response reflecting anti-people and anti-RTI
attitude of incorrigible public servants,” noted information commissioner at
CIC M. Sridhar Acharyulu, in his order.
In a stern
order, Acharyulu stated that the officers do not provide water to people and
when asked under RTI “refuse like an inhuman machine run by rules”.
“These two
questions are life related. If the consumer is injured by collapse of unsafe
building or lack of water or any other minimum facilities like first aid box,
the post office has to be liable under criminal and civil law for culpable
homicide,” he noted.
The
commission questioned post official officials that is it their policy to not
provide drinking water?
“Did you
declare that you will not provide drinking water… Did you inform or notify the
customers of your post office that they should bring their own water as they
are not willing to provide? Is it not inhuman to deny water and also
information about it? Though it is (RTI application) in form of ‘question’, it
has information request behind it, to which the three CPIOs were brutally
blind,” the information commissioner noted.
Acharyulu
directed the post office officials to provide the answers to the queries within
10 days.
He directed
three CPIOs who dealt with appellant’s case to also reply within 21 days as to
why they should not be penalised and disciplinary action not be taken against
them for not responding to the basic questions.
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