Hindustan
Times: Bhopal: Friday, 06 February 2015.
The MP State
Information Commission has taken a very stern view of the failure of the food
and drugs administration (FDA) officials to provide information related to
adulterated food under the right to information (RTI) Act and issued show-cause
notices to three officers.
During a
hearing on Wednesday, information commissioner Atmadeep directed that
show-cause notices should be issued to the chief medical and health officer
(CMHO) of Bhind district Rakesh Sharma (who is also ex-officio deputy director,
FDA) and food security officers of Ashu Kushwaha of Sagar and Shivraj Pawak of
Hoshangabad.
The
show-cause notices ask why punitive action should not be initiated against them
for violating the RTI norms and for failing to comply with the earlier
directives of the commission, Atmadeep told HT.
They have
been asked to reply to the notices by the next hearing date: March 2. The
information commissioner has warned the officers that if they fail to respond,
one-sided punitive action would be initiated against them.
The case: SB
Singh, a resident of Gwalior, had sought details of test report of the
adulterated food samples collected from Bhind district from the State Food
Laboratory of FDA in 2012. Despite orders of the FDA director, Bhopal and its
deputy director at Bhind, the information was not provided during the last
three years.
Erstwhile
public information officer of FDA lab, Bhopal Ashu Kushwaha (now posted in
Sagar) did not provide info to the appellant and also failed to intimate him
about the fees and first appeal procedure.
On this part
the appellate authority, Rakesh Sharma (CMHO) did not conduct the first
hearing. Rather quoting a letter of the erstwhile food inspector and PIO of
FDA, Bhind, Shivraj Pawak (now posted in Hoshangabad), the CMHO refused to give
information to Singh under sections 8 and 9 of the RTI.
Conducting
the hearing earlier, info commissioner Atmadeep had held the CMHO Rakesh Sharma
as deemed PIO in the case and issued notice to him for impeding the
information. The commission had also directed that information should be
provided to the appellant at the earliest.
Dissatisfied
with Sharma’s reply, the commissioner has again directed him to provide a
satisfactory reply by March 2.
Notices of
penalty were issued to Ashu Kushwaha and Pawak for not providing the info
within due time limit. Pawak told the commission that he had provided the info
after the earlier order of the commission. But the appellant argued that the
information was incomplete and wrong. The official has been asked to be present
at the commission for March 2 hearing with complete information. The present
PIO of FDA at Bhind was asked to provide information to the appellant within
seven days, the info commissioner told HT.
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