PMC mayor asks administration to provide RTI info to corporators within seven days

Indian Express‎: Pune: Wednesday, April 27, 2016.

Under criticism for not providing civic information to corporators, PMC mayor Prashant Jagtap has directed the civic administration to furnish all information sought by corporators in a week as it does for citizens in 30 days under the RTI Act.

“It is very serious that the civic administration is not paying heeds to elected representatives. Henceforth, information or reports assured in the meetings would be furnished within a week and there would be a special general body meeting every month to discuss the reports submitted by the administration,” Jagtap said.

On the written application made by corporators to the civic administration, the mayor said that the information has to be delivered within 15 days to the corporators as the same is provided within 30 days under the RTI Act, and the corporators being elected representatives, they should get the information first. “No application should be left unattended by the administration,” he said.

Earlier, all party corporators had alleged that the civic administration was not giving any importance to them. “We are trustees of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) as we have been elected to the civic body. However, the civic administration does not pay heed to our applications seeking information related to the civic body,” said NCP corporator Sunil Gogale.

“The kind of treatment given to the corporators is unacceptable. While a citizen is able to get the same information within 30 days through an RTI application, the corporators are kept waiting,” Gogale added.

Congress corporator Avinash Bagwe said that the civic administration is not taking cognizance of letters seeking information submitted to them, nor are they tabling reports that are assured in the meetings of general body or committees. “The corporators are not taken seriously as there is either indefinite delay by the civic administration in furnishing information sought or at times there is no response at all,” he added.

BJP corporator Dhananjay Jadhav said that he is looking into whether there is any provision on any action that can be initiated against the civic staff for not following the orders in the meeting to furnish the requisite information. “There are so many assurances that reports would be tabled in the next meeting but it never takes place,” he said.