COIMBATORE: In the wake of mounting complaints from activists, the Tamil Nadu Information Commission has served notice to the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) Commissioner regarding the pending RTI queries.
Several activists filed complaints and a second appeal with the Tamil Nadu Information Commission allegedly as civic body officials refused to furnish details sought by them under the RTI Act. Based on this, Chief Information Commissioner Shakeel Akhter served a notice to CCMC commissioner M Prathap directing him to depute his immediate junior, i.e. officers in the level of Additional Director/ Joint Director/Joint Commissioner, to attend the meeting organised in Chennai on Tuesday evening.
“It is noticed that petitions seeking information have not been duly replied to by the Public Information Officers of your Department in your District. The Appellate Authorities have also not exercised proper supervision in ensuring proper information is provided to the general public. It is brought to your notice that the non-compliance and casualness by the Public Information Officers and the designated Appellate Authorities amount to a violation of the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005,” read the notice served to Prathap by Shakeel Akhter. According to the CIC’s letter, 137 RTI appeal petitions are pending before the commission pertaining to the CCMC.
Tamil Nadu Reserve Site Protection Committee Secretary SP Thiyagarajan told TNIE that over three of his RTI petitions and around ten of activist Dheivasigamani are pending with CCMC for more than a year.
Another activist NR Ravisankar told TNIE, “The officials are negligent and lethargic when it comes to replying to RTI queries. More than five of my applications are pending for months. Though I appealed about this issue to the Commission, the corporation is not ready to obey the Commission’s orders.
Despite TNIE’s multiple efforts, CCMC commissioner M Prathap was not available for comment.