Tamil Nadu - Salem   

`Give prominent display for boards with PIO names'

Staff Reporter

Officials to be fined for delay in giving details

SALEM: The State Information Commission had directed the Collectors to give a good display to information boards with names of Public Information Officers (PIOs) and appellate authorities at government offices, State Chief Information Commissioner S. Ramakrishnan said on Tuesday.

At a press conference here, he said the Commission had also asked the officials to put up the information on the websites of respective districts.

Cooperation

Stating that officials of all departments were cooperating with the Commission in implementing the Act, he said there were some confusions among officials on what information they should provide and how.

Training programmes were being conducted for officials to clarify doubts. He said the Commission received 3,280 petitions. Of these, 2,960 were disposed of.

A total of 320 petitions were being processed. As many as 912 petitions related to public grievances were forwarded to officials concerned.

Show cause notice

The Commission had issued show cause notices to about 100 officials for failure to respond to the petitioners, who sought information under the Act, Mr. Ramakrishnan said. The Commission could impose a fine of Rs. 250 a day for delay in providing information to the petitioner beyond the allowed 30 days. The fine amount might go up to a maximum of Rs. 25,000.

Assistance

The police and the court were also bound to provide information to the public under the Act. Apart from government departments, organisations receiving government assistance, including the non-governmental organisations, were bound by the Act.

The Chief Minister had stated that he would consider reducing the fee for seeking information, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

State Information Commissioners G. Ramakrishnan and R. Rathinasamy and secretary, Information Commission T.R. Dandapani were present.

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