GMP PIOs failed to furnish information 2 officers face action for RTI Act violation Gulbarga, Feb 15, DH News Service: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/52942/ Perturbed over the devil-may-care attitude of bureaucracy, the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) in a rare move has come down heavily on two officers of the Gulbarga Mahanagara Palike (GMP) and has directed the GMP Commissioner to initiate disciplinary action against them and file a compliance report within 30 days. The KIC has also levied a fine of Rs 25,000, the maximum fine provided under the Right to Information Act, against the two. Bearing the brunt of the KIC order are assistant executive engineers Mallikarjun Allipur and Mohis Hussain. The GMP Commissioner has been directed to recover the fine amount from their salaries in five monthly installments from March to July this year. The two Class II officers had failed to furnish information sought by former labour minister S K Kantha, even a year after the application was filed. The engineers, who are the duly-designated Public Information Officers of the GMP, have not only violated the RTI Act in discharging their duties but also have discarded the directions issued by the KIC not once or twice but for five times. This has apparently angered State Information Commissioner Dr H N Krishna forcing him to resort to the extreme step. “The irresponsibility of the two officers in not furnishing information sought by S K Kantha has been seriously viewed by the Commission. If this is the position of a senior citizen and well known figure like S K Kantha, what would be the fate of common man?’’ he wondered.
