Star of Mysore: Mysore: Saturday, July 07, 2018.
He was
chairing a meeting on cases in which information was sought by RTI applicants
at the Zilla Panchayat office, here this morning.
In all, there
were 30 cases, out of which 16 were decided and the remaining cases postponed
to different dates including the one on Aug. 17 in Bengaluru.
The
complaints related to RTI applicants seeking information about the funds
released in Panchayat and Gram Panchayat offices, certificates issued with
regard to SC,ST by the Tahsildar, information from the Labour Department with
regard to 5(1) and 5(2) rules and the number of ‘wound certificates’ issued in
K.R. Hospital.
One of the
RTI applicants had sought information from Sarada Vilas Law College which is an
aided college as to the percentage of admissions of SC, ST students.
The
applicants complained that the officers concerned had not given the information
in spite of repeated visits to the office.
Chandre Gowda
took the officials to task and said that every official must first remember
that he is a public servant and it was his duty and responsibility to give the
information under RTI as demanded by the applicants.
Later,
addressing the media, he said that the 10,000 applications were pending because
for nearly two years Information Commissioner had not been appointed.
Now, some of
the cases had been disposed off and the remaining would likely to be cleared
this year.
Under the
Public Records Act 2010, there is imprisonment for officials but there is no
imprisonment under RTI Act and the maximum fine is Rs.25,000 imposed on the
official for delay in providing information to the applicant, he said.
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