May 5,2018:
Mullick stated that fine rule would result in better compliance by government officials. Activists have been complaining for long that despite being part of the RTI Act, the rule was not being implemented.
Maharashtra's New State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), Sumit Mullick, has stated that officials delaying such information would be fined.
This may come as a respite to the citizens moving applications under Right to Information Act.
Mullick, who retired as Chief Secretary of Maharashtra on April 30, took charge on Thursday. The post had been lying vacant after CIC Ratnakar Gaikwad’s term came to an end on June 1, 2017.
With nearly 40,000 cases pending in the state, Mullick is keen to address pendency issue first and, then, fortify the online system of filing RTI applications and ensuring that all departments put out the RTI complaints and replies on their website.
He further added that,"Poor management of records by public authorities which the annual report of the commission has pointed out was a cause for concern".
Mullick said that,“Maintaining records has been an issue with all departments. Every department has to develop a mechanism to ensure that all information is in place and with technology they can do so”.
Former CIC and RTI Activist Shailesh Gandhi said, “It would be interesting to see how all the pending cases are disposed of in a year. If the cases are not addressed, it will make the RTI Act weak,’’ he pointed out.
Gandhi added that Pune, Amravati and Nashik were lagging behind with nearly more than 7,000 cases.
Source TOI
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