Noida officers fined for not replying to RTIs

Hindustan Times: Noida: Friday, September 15, 2017.

The State Information Commission of Uttar Pradesh has fined Rs 25,000 each to 22 officers from various departments of Gautam Budh Nagar for not providing information asked for under the Right to Information Act.

The fine will be deducted from the salaries of the officials. The officers have been fined for not providing information within the prescribed time limit of 30 days after receiving the RTI application. These officers have been fined Rs 250 for each delayed day and the total amount has reached Rs 25,000 as per the section 20 (1) of RTI Act 2005.

The action has been taken against public information officers from Noida Authority, education department and other various departments and District Panchayat Raj. These officers failed to provide information asked through RTIs in 2016.

The state body has come down heavily on officers who do not provide accurate information on time to people filing RTIs on various issues related to the district.

The district magistrate has been asked to ensure that all the fined money is collected from the salaries of these officers. The collected money has to be deposited to the government account within three months. The orders have been sent to the district administration to inform all the concerned officers and departments to pay the fine.

“We have to provide accurate information on right time to the State Information Commission so that RTI applicants can get their replies on time. This action is necessary to make all the officials understand the importance of queries of people. Following this action, I hope that in future no delays will take place in providing information within the given time,” said BN Singh, District Magistrate.

Right to Information Act 2005 makes it compulsory to respond on time to the requests made by the citizen asking for government information. This initiative was taken by the department of personnel and training, ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions providing an RTI Portal Gateway to the citizens.