Moneylife: New Delhi: Friday, 26 September 2025.
The central information
commission (CIC) recently came down hard on the public information officer
(PIO) of the food & supplies department, Delhi, which gave excuses of heavy
work load and a fire incident to defend itself from providing information to an
RTI applicant seeking information of access to rations by a person with
disabilities (PwDs), who is unable to authenticate fingerprints or iris scans
on the machine.
Besides reprimanding the PIO of the food & supplies department for the unsatisfactory justification for the delay information which was eventually provided, CIC Vinod Kumar Tiwari issued an advisory for this public authority under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act, for upfront disclosure of information under Section 4 of the RTI Act in public domain, referring to a high court (HC) order.
CIC Tiwari advocated in his order that the department must “disclose to the beneficiaries of the PDS (public distribution system) particularly PwD beneficiaries regarding the provision for facilitating ration distribution to them through other members of the family or through authorised representative. Such information should be displayed at all the FPSs (fair price shops). This will also relieve the public authority of the burden of RTI applications.”
RTI applicant Ashok Kumar had filed an RTI application related to the distribution of ration through POS machines to ration card holders, as follows:
He further pointed out the sloppy work of the food & supplies office. He noted that standard office procedures, such as entering dispatch numbers and dates on outgoing correspondence and placing copies in the relevant files, were not followed. He questioned why the PIO had remained silent on the non-receipt of the dispatch copy if the lapse was solely attributable to a multi-tasking staff (MTS) employee. These gaps, the order said, remained unexplained in the PIO’s written submission.
RTI applicant Kumar argued during the hearing that although he eventually received the reply, it was inordinately delayed, violating the provisions of the RTI Act. He also raised a larger issue concerning persons with disabilities (PwDs). He stated that those unable to visit fair price shops in person or whose biometric/ iris authentication fails on e-PoS devices due to medical conditions are often deprived of ration benefits. He urged the commission to direct that all policies, circulars, and orders related to such cases be publicly displayed at fair price shops to assist disabled beneficiaries.
Appearing on behalf of the PIO, Shyam Kumar Talwar, food & supplies officer (policy), along with Sachin Gupta, food & supplies inspector (policy), tendered an apology. They explained that the PIO himself was engaged in election-related duties as electoral registration officer (ERO) and could not attend. However, the commission found the reasoning inadequate.
Advisory by CIC Tiwari
“Nonetheless, in the spirit of the RTI Act, an advisory under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act is issued to the Respondent Public Authority for upfront disclosure of information as sought in this RTI application and related Rules, Circulars, Office Orders, Bye Laws, etc. under Section 4 of the RTI Act in public domain, as recently directed by Hon’ble Apex Court in the case titled Kishan Chand Jain v. UOI & Ors. Writ Petition (Civil) No. 990 of 2021.
Respondent public authority is advised to disclose to the beneficiaries of the PDS (Public Distribution System) particularly PwD beneficiaries regarding the provision for facilitating ration distribution to them through other members of the family or through authorized representative. Such information should be displayed at all the FPSs (Fair Price Shops). This will also relieve the Public Authority of the burden of RTI Applications.”
Besides reprimanding the PIO of the food & supplies department for the unsatisfactory justification for the delay information which was eventually provided, CIC Vinod Kumar Tiwari issued an advisory for this public authority under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act, for upfront disclosure of information under Section 4 of the RTI Act in public domain, referring to a high court (HC) order.
CIC Tiwari advocated in his order that the department must “disclose to the beneficiaries of the PDS (public distribution system) particularly PwD beneficiaries regarding the provision for facilitating ration distribution to them through other members of the family or through authorised representative. Such information should be displayed at all the FPSs (fair price shops). This will also relieve the public authority of the burden of RTI applications.”
RTI applicant Ashok Kumar had filed an RTI application related to the distribution of ration through POS machines to ration card holders, as follows:
- In the case where there is only a single member in the ration card and the fingerprint or iris authentication does not work in the POS machine, what is the procedure to provide ration to such ration card holder? Please provide a copy of the relevant order/circular/guidelines.
- In the case where a disabled person is the only member in the ration card, what is the procedure to provide ration to such ration card holder? Please provide a copy of the relevant order/circular/guidelines.
He further pointed out the sloppy work of the food & supplies office. He noted that standard office procedures, such as entering dispatch numbers and dates on outgoing correspondence and placing copies in the relevant files, were not followed. He questioned why the PIO had remained silent on the non-receipt of the dispatch copy if the lapse was solely attributable to a multi-tasking staff (MTS) employee. These gaps, the order said, remained unexplained in the PIO’s written submission.
RTI applicant Kumar argued during the hearing that although he eventually received the reply, it was inordinately delayed, violating the provisions of the RTI Act. He also raised a larger issue concerning persons with disabilities (PwDs). He stated that those unable to visit fair price shops in person or whose biometric/ iris authentication fails on e-PoS devices due to medical conditions are often deprived of ration benefits. He urged the commission to direct that all policies, circulars, and orders related to such cases be publicly displayed at fair price shops to assist disabled beneficiaries.
Appearing on behalf of the PIO, Shyam Kumar Talwar, food & supplies officer (policy), along with Sachin Gupta, food & supplies inspector (policy), tendered an apology. They explained that the PIO himself was engaged in election-related duties as electoral registration officer (ERO) and could not attend. However, the commission found the reasoning inadequate.
Advisory by CIC Tiwari
“Nonetheless, in the spirit of the RTI Act, an advisory under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act is issued to the Respondent Public Authority for upfront disclosure of information as sought in this RTI application and related Rules, Circulars, Office Orders, Bye Laws, etc. under Section 4 of the RTI Act in public domain, as recently directed by Hon’ble Apex Court in the case titled Kishan Chand Jain v. UOI & Ors. Writ Petition (Civil) No. 990 of 2021.
Respondent public authority is advised to disclose to the beneficiaries of the PDS (Public Distribution System) particularly PwD beneficiaries regarding the provision for facilitating ration distribution to them through other members of the family or through authorized representative. Such information should be displayed at all the FPSs (Fair Price Shops). This will also relieve the Public Authority of the burden of RTI Applications.”
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