Times
of India: Puducherry: Thursday, 07 August 2014.
The Central
Information Commission has pulled up Puducherry government for violating
provisions of the RTI Act by appointing a single person as public information
officer as well as the first appellate authority in a government college.
The case
relates to some information sought by RTI activist L Selvam Flaubert from
Bharathiar Palkalaikoodam, a government performing arts college in Puducherry.
Information commissioner Yashovardhan Azad, who heard an appeal from Flaubert
through videoconferencing on August 2, asked the chairman of the college to
rectify the mistake of appointing the same person as public information officer
as well as the first appellate authority.
Azad also
pulled up the government for not providing full information - year of
establishment of the Karaikal branch of the college, number of employees
engaged with names, salary and wages, budget allocation and reasons for closure
of the branch - sought by Flaubert.
The PIO and
the first appellate authority, while providing much of the information sought
by the RTI activist, said the reason for closure could not be provided as the
relevant records were untraceable. The commission directed the government to
conduct an inquiry to fix responsibility on officials concerned for loss of
records. The government has to send the action taken report to the commission
within a month.
The public
information officer, on June 15, 2012, sought three months time to furnish
reasons for closure of the Karaikal branch of the college. He said the files
were not traceable and he needed time to search them. An appeal to the
appellate authority also evoked a similar response on October 30, 2012.
The activist
then preferred an appeal before the central information commission on November
5, 2012. In his complaint, the activist charged that the PIO was deliberately
hiding information.
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