Times of India: Chennai: Thursday, 30 January 2025.
The Tamil Nadu govt has
instructed public information officers (PIOs) and appellate authorities in govt
offices not to send proxies (lower rank officers) on their behalf to appear
before the state information commission.
"If the public information officer cannot make a personal appearance due to unavoidable reasons, the officer concerned should give prior intimation to the commission and depute an officer of equivalent rank. They cannot send officers of lower rank. The PIOs should always wear the identity card during the hearing," stated a circular issued by the human resources dept to all the govt depts in the secretariat and the district collectorates.
It has reminded public information officers and appellate authorities about their roles under the Right to Information Act. It has instructed them on a series of procedures to abide by, drawing their attention to various rules.
The circular was issued in the wake of the state chief information commissioner's letter to the govt about the practices of the PIOs in violation of RTI rules.
The circular states that PIOs are duty-bound to respond to RTI pleas and they cannot make assistant PIOs furnish information sought by an applicant. "The PIOs should furnish their name, designation, office address, official phone number, email ID and the details of the appellate authority in their replies to RTI queries," said the circular.
Documents related to RTI petitions should be kept for three years while papers related to appeals should be kept for five years. The circular warned the PIOs against the practice of summoning applicants.
The circular has instructed them to provide the information sought within the stipulated time and thereby to ensure that the applicant does not approach the commission.
RTI activist M Kasimayan welcomed the circular and hoped that the PIOs would follow the rules in letter and spirit.
"If the public information officer cannot make a personal appearance due to unavoidable reasons, the officer concerned should give prior intimation to the commission and depute an officer of equivalent rank. They cannot send officers of lower rank. The PIOs should always wear the identity card during the hearing," stated a circular issued by the human resources dept to all the govt depts in the secretariat and the district collectorates.
It has reminded public information officers and appellate authorities about their roles under the Right to Information Act. It has instructed them on a series of procedures to abide by, drawing their attention to various rules.
The circular was issued in the wake of the state chief information commissioner's letter to the govt about the practices of the PIOs in violation of RTI rules.
The circular states that PIOs are duty-bound to respond to RTI pleas and they cannot make assistant PIOs furnish information sought by an applicant. "The PIOs should furnish their name, designation, office address, official phone number, email ID and the details of the appellate authority in their replies to RTI queries," said the circular.
Documents related to RTI petitions should be kept for three years while papers related to appeals should be kept for five years. The circular warned the PIOs against the practice of summoning applicants.
The circular has instructed them to provide the information sought within the stipulated time and thereby to ensure that the applicant does not approach the commission.
RTI activist M Kasimayan welcomed the circular and hoped that the PIOs would follow the rules in letter and spirit.
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