Hindustan Times: Uttarakhand: Sunday, September
16, 2018.
After an activist filed an application
under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Haldwani Municipal Corporation
has asked him to pay Rs 1.49 lakh as the cost of printouts.
Hemant Gauniya had filed the Right to
Information application on August 28, seeking information on municipal tax
defaulters and their addresses, and the action taken by the civic body against
them.
He also sought details about how many
shopkeepers have not paid rentals to the municipal corporation and what action
had been taken.
The corporation, in a letter written on
September 7, sought Rs 147,938 from Gauniya as the printout cost for 73,969
pages at the rate of Rs 2 per page.
The total cost comes to Rs 149,288 as the
information involves 135 full-size papers whose printing cost is more,
corporation officials said.
“I was shocked at the exorbitant amount
asked for; I think that this is a ploy to dissuade me from seeking any
information in future,” Gauniya said, adding that he would not be able to give
the amount for the printouts. “Presently there is no provision for giving
information in pen drive or CD; digitised data is not available now,” he said.
Assistant municipal commissioner VS
Chauhan said, “Gauniya can seek any important information by coming to my
office. But the government has laid down the price for each page of information
sought under the Right to Information Act. The cost of around 74,000 pages
would be close to Rs 1.5 lakh.”
Gauniya has earlier filed Right to
Information applications seeking information on those who have not paid dues to
the Haldwani unit of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation and the Payjal Sansthan.
He has lodged complaints on the chief
minister’s portal, leading to action by the authorities on power cuts, electric
transformer repair, and traffic management.