The Tribune: Jalandhar: Thursday, September 21, 2017.
In a case
filed with it in May 2015, the Punjab Information Commission (PIC) has found
that the MGN Trust is spending 95 per cent of the grants received from the
state government directly and indirectly on giving salary to its staff.
It also said
the prime land on which various institutions of the MGN Trust were running had
been allotted on a nominal lease.
The
commission declared the MGN Trust a public authority under Section 2(h) of the
Act and has directed all school authorities to designate a public information
officer (PIO) and first appellate authority, besides taking all measures as
enshrined in Section 4 of the RTI Act. The Trust has also been asked to provide
information to the complainant within 30 days.
The school
authorities initially contended that they were not getting any financial aid
directly or indirectly from the government. They said they are not under the
control of the government. School authorities say, “It is purely a private
institution constituted from private resources.”
As per the
case filed with the State Information Commission, an RTI activist (who filed
the case) had claimed, “MGN School is being run by a trust, which is a
registered body under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860, and is
discharging public functions in the field of education. All administrative and
financial powers are vested in the chairman of the Trust, which reflects the
unitary character of the Trust.”
The RTI
activist asserted that the Trust receives 95 per cent grant-in-aid from the
Punjab Government for the functioning of its institutions MGN College of
Education, Jalandhar; GN College of Education for Women, Kapurthala; MGN Senior
Secondary School for Girls, Jalandhar; MGN Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar
and MGN Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar Cantonment.
The activist
has also claimed, “The Trust had been allotted six acres of prime land on a
nominal annual rent of Rs 600 by the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT), which
is an extended arm of the government. Similarly, the land for one of its public
schools was sold to the Trust at concessional rates by the PUDA.”
As per the
information procured from an RTI query, “MGN School, in its response to the RTI
query, had also admitted the aforementioned facts about the assistance
available to them from the government and its agencies.”
The
commission, in its judgment, has clearly mentioned, “We can foresee that but
for the above grants-in-aid and other concessions towards land allotments, the
respondents would not have been able to run the institution in its present form.
Thus, it is manifestly clear that the respondents are substantially being
financed by the state government directly as well as indirectly. The Trust, in
its constituent units, as such, squarely fits in the definition of a public
authority under Section 2(h) (d) (ii) of the Act.”
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