The Right to Information Act is showing results in Maharashtra. So far, 32 officers in various departments have been fined aggregating to Rs 1.43 lakh for not providing information to the public or for giving incorrect or false information.
In an instance, 19 officers attached to the Thane Municipal Corporation have been fined Rs 60,500 for violating the provisions of the Act, while five officers in the Ratnagiri district collector’s office were fined Rs 39,500.
Clarifications have also been sought from 68 officers for not giving information on time and also not taking action on appeals.
The information was given by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at a meeting with social activist Anna Hazare, who was the driving force behind enacting the Right to Information Act two years ago to bring transparency in government functioning.
Till December 2004, more than 1250 applications were received in various departments at the state secretariat to get information on different subjects.
Under the Right to Information Act Information Officers and Appellate Authorities have been appointed in each department. Information regarding this is available on the government website.
On a legislation governing transfer of government officials, including police officers, Mr Deshmukh said the matter was pending with the joint select committee of the state legislature and the ordinance promulgated earlier does not exist technically. "The state government is taking steps to shift officials who have been at one posting for more than ten years. Similarly, to expedite the movement of files, computerisation of all departments is being undertaken," he said.
In order to have files cleared in stipulated time, idea of administrative audit is being considered by the government, Chief Secretary Premkumar told Mr Hazare.
