The Asian Age: Mumbai: Saturday,
September 21, 2013.
The BMC has
issued a circular and appointed 28 public information officers (PIOs) with
immediate effect. While 10 PIOs would serve as deputy municipal secretaries, 17
are assistant municipal secretaries and one is the mayor’s personal assistant.
Earlier,
there was only one PIO in the municipal secretary department and the applicant
had to go to the BMC headquarters and approach him. Apart from that, the
assistant municipal secretaries had no power to furnish information. This
provision has been made seeking information at the ward level easier.
Anil Galgali,
an activist who got this information through RTI, has welcomed the decision and
said that it is an outcome of the constant follow-up with the BMC administration
for the last three years. “Now, every applicant would get information easily
and within the stipulated time,” he said. He added, “ These PIOs can now
furnish information related to the mayor, Opposition leader, leader of the
House, chairman of different committees like standing, education, improvement
and others at the ward level.”
Satisfied
with the provision, a senior officer working at the BMC headquarter said, “It
will give the common people an opportunity to keep a watch not only on public
representatives but also on officers such as assistant municipal commissioners
across 25 wards.”
However, the
department has not disclosed the names of the newly-appointed PIOs and their
appellate officers. “I have demanded that the municipal secretary disclose
their details for the convenience of the information seekers,” said Mr Galgali.
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