Recover fine from official's salary: RTI review panel

Recover fine from official's salary: RTI review panel

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-25/lucknow/40185235_1_rti-act-up-state-information-commission-rti-implementation

TNN Jun 25, 2013, 02.33AM IST


Tags:
UP State Information Commission|
RTI Act|
Administrative Reforms Department
LUCKNOW: Fine imposed on a government official for not providing
information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act should be
recovered from his salary. To ensure action, fine should be recovered
at the time of preparing the salary statement. The recovery of RTI
fine has been as less as 1% in the state.


The direction has come from the state-level committee set up to review
the implementation of RTI Act in the state. The committee has met for
the first time during the present government. The committee headed by
chief secretary deliberated on several issues which impede the
implementation of the Act in UP.




Based on recommendations of the committee, the Administrative Reforms
Department (ARD)-nodal department for implementation of the RTI Act in
UP-issued directions to government departments on May 30 to follow the
RTI norms. The departments have to furnish compliance report by
June-end.


The departments will have to comply with the Section 4(1)(B) of the
Act that calls for uploading the particulars of the organisation;
functions and duties. The departments have to follow the norms, and
have been directed to furnish compliance report, said the RTI response
to Urvashi Sharma.


Besides, to realise the fine imposed on the government departments for
not providing information under RTI Act in the stipulated time period,
the committee directed that recovery of fine should be reviewed
monthly and report be sent to the government. Apart from this a nodal
officer be appointed to ensure that the fine was recovered.


The committee also directed that a full-time secretary be appointed to
facilitate the functioning of the commission. The UP State Information
Commission (UPSIC) never had a full-time secretary.
RTI has always been in bad shape in UP. The changing regimes have not
done much to ameliorate the state of RTI affairs. The biggest proof of
it is that the state-level committee set up to review the
implementation of RTI Act in UP has been more or less defunct.
It was constituted on July 7, 2008, under the chairmanship of the
chief secretary to review the decisions of SIC and penalties imposed
on a monthly/quarterly basis. But, the successive state governments
have not taken interest in RTI matters. In the last government, the
committee could meet only thrice in five years, when it was supposed
to meet monthly/quarterly to take stock of RTI implementation.


The RTI response says the committee did not meet even once between
March 15, 2012 and March 8, 2013, the first year of SP government in
office. It met for the first time on April 4 under the present
government.


The committee has among its members principal secretary/secretary of
law department, administrative reforms departmenrt, personnel
department, secretariat administration and secretary of UPSIC. The
said committee has met only thrice so far - on December 1, 2008; May
7, 2009; and September 22, 2010.