BANGALORE: Babus and information officers, better take the RTI
applications seriously. Else, settle for a poor pay hike.
In what could change the way the government officials share
information with the public, the Karnataka Information Commission
(KIC) has asked the government to link performance appraisals of
officers to their attitude towards implementing the Right to
Information (RTI) Act.
In its first ever report to the Government, the KIC has recommended
that specific columns be included in the Annual Confidential Reports
of officers to show how they treat applications under the RTI Act.
''The self-assessment report of the public information officers must
include information regarding the number of RTI applications received
by them and their disposal,'' the report submitted to the Government
states.
As part of its maiden annual report laid in both Houses of the State
Legislature, the KIC has called for several stringent action against
officials who deny the public their right to know. With increasing
number of information officers reporting that important records sought
by the applicants have gone missing, the Commission has called for
bringing in a comprehensive legislation to regulate the management,
administration and prevention of public reports.
''We have noted that maintenance and management of records in all
government offices have been neglected for a long time. Many officers
are making fraudulent claims that permanent records relating to lands
have gone missing. To tackle the menace of missing public records we
want the State to implement a legislation similar to the Public
Records Act 1993 with a provision to take punitive action against
those indulging in unauthorised destruction of records,'' a KIC
official said.
...
by Mathang Seshagiri, Newindpress_com - Bangalore, Saturday August 2 2008
Post new comment