Vital docus missing: MP yet to approve Public Records Act
BHOPAL: Sixty-six years after it came into existence, Madhya Pradesh is yet to have its own Public Records Act (PRA) for effective administration, management and maintenance of public records.
Concerned over frequent cases of files and documents vanishing from government departments, the MP State Information Commissioner (SIC) Rahul Singh recently directed the state’s general administration department (GAD) to initiate the legislation of the Public Records Act in the state.
Singh also instructed the GAD to devise guidelines, in consonance with the Centre’s Public Records Act, 1993 to regulate the management of documents and to have strong penalizing provisions including five years imprisonment and fine of Rs 10,000 against officers accountable for the missing records until the PRA is enacted in the state.
The order was passed while hearing an appeal on a missing caste certificate from the government record. Not only the public records and documents were missing but also the RTI application that was filed was not to be found. What surprised the state information commissioner was that no accountability had been fixed for the past 3 years for the missing records. Singh levied penalty of Rs 58,000 against three sub-divisional magistrates and also instructed the Satna district collector to initiate inquiry into missing records.
Singh, in his order pointed out that absence of any legal framework for the management and administration of the records, is the reason behind the officers having callous and apathetic approach towards cases of loss, mismanagement, illegal destruction of records in government offices.
“Loss of documents may have disastrous impact at times jeopardizing the lives and careers of individuals. The SIC gets complaints of the disappearance of documents in land records, missing files on wrongful or irregular appointments, enquiry reports and corruption. There have been several cases where these documents made a reappearance after the concerned authorities were ordered by the Information Commission to file an official police report,” Singh said.