KSEB pulled up for RTI reply delay

Deccan Chronicle: Thiruvananthapuram: Sunday, June 03, 2012.

The state information commission (SIC) has pulled up KSEB, known for its bureaucratic hassles, for the undue delay in providing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

“Information cannot be withheld just because the applicant had not informed the concerned public information officer (PIO) about the submission of the fee,” the Commission has said in an order.

The order was based on a complaint filed by an applicant who was denied information by the KSEB on the ground that he had not informed the concerned PIO.

“The applicant’s sole responsibility is to remit the fee,” the Commission said.

“It is the duty of the board, and not the applicant’s, to make the necessary arrangements to intimate the concerned PIO about the fee submitted,” the Commission added.

Following the order, KSEB has come up with a set of guidelines for the effective implementation of the RTI Act.

It says that if an information sought by the applicant is not available in the office which had received the application, it should be forwarded to the concerned office within five days and the applicant informed.

The guidelines also say the applicant has the right to submit fee in any of the board’s cash counters.