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`Make file notes accessible'

Staff Reporter

To fix culpability of officials: Commissioner

KOCHI: Notes of files should be made accessible on application, as it was required to fix the culpability of individuals who take decisions, State Information Commissioner Palat Mohandas said on Thursday.

Referring to the ongoing debate whether the note files be brought under the ambit of the Right to Information Act 2005, Mr. Mohandas said that the note files give the process through which decisions are taken. Access to note files was required to know who gave what advice on a particular issue. A file was a finished product and the note files are required to know the history of the case, he said.

There was absolutely no harm in showing the note files. Otherwise the whole exercise would be rendered meaningless, he said.

Mr. Mohandas was speaking at a meeting organised by the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Kochi on Thursday.

According to Mr. Mohandas, there was a strong move to keep information away from public and the bureaucracy was ably abetting the political bureaucracy and their political masters in this regard. The privileges of a Member of Legislative Assembly or a Member of Parliament need to be redefined. The privilege is a facility available to him to deliver his official responsibility and not his personal responsibilities. In this regard, the information submitted to Parliament and State Assemblies should be accessible, he said.

The Right to Information Act is the strongest tool in the hands of people to assert themselves and the people should make good use of this tool, he said. K.M. Roy, senior journalist and John K. Paul, Chamber president, attended.

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