Don’t share official info thru Whatsapp: Bangalore Development Authority

Deccan Chronicle: Bengaluru: Sunday, September 08, 2019.

"We know when and how to disclose information to the public and if at all people really want to get details, then they can always take the RTI route,"

Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner Dr Manjula has asked her staff and officials not to share any office-related documents, files or project information to anyone through Whatsapp or any other medium.  The staff flouting this rule will be strictly punished and will be subjected to an official enquiry, she said.

A senior official in the BDA said, "It was brought to the notice of the BDA commissioner that documents were being shared with unknown people through Whatsapp. The commissioner has thus directed her staff not to share any such information through Whatsapp as it was found that information related to the projects and other related documents were getting leaked to the public and middlemen were taking undue advantage of it."

"Once the information reaches the public domain it is misinterpreted. We have to keep issuing clarifications to people who visit us asking about the matter. This also leads to confusion and the work in progress gets hampered. Any information which needs to be disseminated to the public should be approved by the senior authorities," added the officer.

Another official mentioned that there are certain official matters and documents which need to be kept confidential but everything was being circulated through Whatsapp and this was being taken advantage by a few people with vested interests.

"We know when and how to disclose information to the public and if at all people really want to get details, then they can always take the RTI route," added the official.