Times of India: Hubballi: Thursday,
November 10, 2016.
Five
officials of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) have received
summonses from the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC). State information
commissioner KM Chandregowda, who issued them the notices under Section 18(3)
of the Right to Information Act, said, "They have to explain in writing
why they shouldn't be fined Rs 25,000."
The summoned
officials have to attend a hearing on November 14 at the KIC office in
Bengaluru. The HDMC has been getting memos from the department of personnel and
administrative reforms (DPAR) and KIC. Santosh Nargund, convener,
Hubballi-Dharwad Pragati Sankalp, who had sought information on different works
through different applications, alleged that HDMC officials make citizens run
from pillar to post to get answers through RTI. "If we send envelopes superscribed
'RTI Application' by registered post, they reject them," he said.
He added,
"I sought information about a park in Dr S Radhakrishnan Nagar, which was
developed under the CM's Nagarotthana Scheme. I submitted the application on
July 1, 2015 and got information on August 13, 2015. However, this information
was misleading as there was no development work in the park. In another
application filed on the same date, I sought documents classifying wards and
maps of each ward. This information was issued in September and it was
incomplete. In another application filed on the same day, I asked for a list of
lakes and their location, survey numbers, tank level and storage capacity. This
information was also not given in the stipulated time frame and the information
given was incomplete."
C W Shakeel
Ahmad, joint commissioner, also designated as first appellate authority under
RTI Act, said the HDMC has 58 public information officers (PIO) under the RTI
Act. "As many applications seek information related to multiple PIOs, one
PIO gives information related to his section. However, he will not forward it
to other PIOs if RTI application seeks information related to another PIO. Of
course, there is a provision in the Act to forward it to the official
concerned. But it is applicable for forwarding of the entire application. We
appeal to applicants to ask information related to a particular PIO and we have
displayed a board about this on our premises," he said.
Nargund, who
travelled for a KIC hearing to Bengaluru on October 19 at his own cost,
recalled that a dozen officials attended the hearing based on his application.
"Their travel expenses and dearness allowance is paid by the public
exchequer. The officials summoned will travel to Bengaluru on Nov. 14 for the
KIC hearing. Their services will be unavailable to the HDMC on such occasions.
The lack of accountability is costing the exchequer heavily," he said.
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