The Hindu:
Kochi: Friday, 06 March 2020.
Parting
of personal information of MVI
An
order of the State Information Commission (SIC) barring parting of personal
information about a motor vehicle inspector (MVI) to an association representing
goods carriers has been termed a morale booster for Motor Vehicles Department
officials deployed in traffic enforcement duties.
Office-bearers
of tipper lorry and private bus operators’ associations often pester Regional
Transport Offices with such ‘irrelevant’ information to tarnish the image of
personnel acting tough on rule violations such as overloading and reckless
driving. There have been instances of a few such associations pasting
defamatory posters against officials at public spaces and even near houses of
such officials. Such associations have also taken out rallies to houses of
officials who do not yield to their pressure tactics. The SIC order is a
deterrent to such pressure tactics, said a senior MVD official.
The
SIC order came on an appeal filed by an office-bearer of the Kerala Taurus
Tipper Association seeking information about a host of questions, including
copies of diploma certificate, workshop-experience certificate, wage register,
and muster roll of an MVI attached to the Thiruvananthapuram Enforcement
Regional Transport Officer (RTO) office.
The
MVD contended before the commission that the office-bearer’s aim was to
intimidate straightforward officials (like the MVI) and that he had sought such
information about many other officials too of the department with this
objective.
The
commission, in its order, said the Right to Information (RTI) was a sacred
right, using which people could seek information.
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