Times of India: Hyderabad: Wednesday,
August 31, 2016.
More than
eight months after an RTI activist was denied information pertaining to
refugees in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts by the Telangana government,
the State Information Commission recently intervened and directed the police
department and district administration to provide details within 45 days even
as it expressed "surprise" at the delay.
According to
the activist S Q Masood, the RTI query was filed last December in order to
study the conditions of refugees living in and around the city. The query
requested information on the number of such people, "interventions"
of the government and the method of liaising with the office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees.
While the
query was addressed to the chief secretary of the Telangana government, it was
later forwarded to the home department under relevant sections of the RTI Act
by the General Administration Department.
However,
Masood said that at a hearing before the in-charge chief information
commissioner M Ratan, the Home Department representative said that no such
letter from the GAD received.
An excerpt
from the order, a copy of which is with TOI, reads thus: "It is surprising
that the representative of the Home Department who is present today stated that
this note along with enclosure were not traced and that they received copy of 6
(1) application regarding refugees for the first time along with the notice of
the AP Information Commission dated 19-7-2016". The commission also
directed the Home Department to probe how the note from the GAD went missing.
"After
no information came from the concerned department, I went for the first appeal
with the appellate authority of the Home Department. This too yielded no result
and I was forced to approach the commission after which a hearing was scheduled
on August 8. I am hopeful that after the commission's order, I will be provided
the information," Masood said even as he lamented that delay was inordinate
and is reflective of the state of affairs of government departments with respect
to providing information.
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