Deccan Chronicle: Hyderabad: Tuesday,
August 09, 2016.
Hundreds of
RTI applications seeking information from the GHMC have been dumped in in the
head and zonal offices.
The
applications are sent to the department concerned, but are sent back to the PRO
stating that the information is not available. Applicants have to wait for a
month and again appeal for the information.
DC reader
Akula Krishna said he had filed an RTI application on property tax assessment
details at the Circle 18 in April. “I waited for 30 days which is the mandatory
period but there was no reply. I went to
the circle office many times but to no avail.”
After 45
days, he file dhis first appeal at the zonal office. “Officers continued to
cite various reasons to deny information. The staff never took my calls,” he
said.
When he got
no reply after 45 days, he lodged a
complaint regarding staff inefficiency on the MyGHMC app.
He said:
“Following this, I got a message that the complaint was closed as the
information was sent.” He said what the GHMC send did not answers his
questions. “I wasted four months,” he said.
The GHMC is
not new to such situations. In 2015, a public information officer of the GHMC
did not furnish information even after receiving a show-cause notice from the
State Information Comm-issioner to provide reply to an RTI applicant.
In 2014, the
Andhra Pradesh Information Commission had levied a fine of about Rs 2 lakh on
officials of Wakf Board, Rs 1.7 lakh on the education department and about Rs
1.4 lakh on the GHMC for not complying
with the Act between 2009 and 2014.
GHMC is among
the top three dodgers of the RTI Act by not providing appropriate information
sought by applicants, according to sources.
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