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Info body pulls up civic officials under delay in discharge of duty Act

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In another case of officials being pulled up under the Right to Services Act, the state information commission has asked the civic commissioner why no action should be taken against some civic officials.

Officially called the Government Servants Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act (Act 21 of 2006), it's increasingly being used in government corridors for better accountability. The Act stipulates the time in which an official is supposed to clear a pending file, among other details.

The order was given when an RTI activist, Mohammed Afzal, filed an application in January seeking details about action taken on his complaints. Afzal had filed numerous complaints about unauthorised alteration and addition made to his society — an extended balcony and an altered drainage system. "I had asked what action has been taken as per the RTS Act sections. However, the public information officer (PIO) didn't give me any information," said Afzal.

The civic body's PIO is said to have claimed to not have any information, saying the officer who was in his post earlier had it.

When the first appellate authority directed that the information be provided in seven days, the PIO still did not abide by that order. During the second appeal hearing held by state chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, the PIO was criticised for "irresponsible" reply to the applicant.

The commission then directed the municipal commissioner to conduct an inquiry and issued a show cause notice to the PIO asking why a fine shouldn't be imposed on him.

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