COIMBATORE: In a recent reply to a Right to Information (RTI) petition filed by TNIE, it was revealed that the Department of School Education has no details on the conduct of RTI training for its Public Information Officers (PIOs) in the respective education offices in previous years.
Following information from PIOs that the department had not conducted RTI training for them, TNIE sought details on how many RTI training programmes had been conducted for staff over the past two decades.
The PIO of the Directorate of Elementary Education (DEE) forwarded TNIE's petition to district-level officers, directing them to provide the details instead of furnishing the information themselves.
Notably, PIO of the director's office of school education said that it is considered that information can be provided only from current files and records under Section 2 (f) of the RTI Act.
A PIO in office of a Chief Educational Officer in a district, on conditions of anonymity, told TNIE that in the two decades since the implementation of the RTI Act, the school education department has not provided RTI training to staff serving as PIOs.
He said that officers should regularly provide RTI training to ensure staffs are well-informed, and that proper training records should be maintained in offices. "As there has been no training, PIOs at the district level are unaware of the RTI Act. As a result, RTI petitioners do not receive proper information and instead get tactical information in a mechanical manner, with officials refusing to provide complete information or even giving false information. The objective of the RTI Act has been undermined, and citizens are unable to assess the department's transparency," he alleged.
"For instance, due to lack of knowledge, a block educational officer in a district had provided a teacher's personal details and photographs to a petitioner under the RTI Act. Before sharing such information, the PIO should have sought the concerned teacher's consent. If the department had provided regular training, these incidents would not have happened. There are several incidents like this," he pointed out.
RTI activist P Arulkumar said, "The school education department has already clarified under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act that 'information' includes any material in any form, including records, memos, emails, circulars, orders, log books, etc., which can be provided to applicants. But, in reply to TNIE's petition, they said that only current files and records are considered and can be provided under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act. It is a contradiction and shows that officer is unaware of RTI Act," he alleged.
"Central Information Commission said that advocates cannot use the RTI Act by filing applications to seek details related to cases they are handling for their clients. But whether PIOs in this department are aware of this or not," he said.
School education secretary B Chandra Mohan was not available for comment.
