Team Herald
MARGAO: The Directorate of Panchayats (DoP) has issued a show cause notice to the secretary of Village Panchayat of Cavelossim over issues related to replies given to Right to Information (RTI) applications regarding an Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) inquiry, which had begun after a complaint was filed regarding destruction of khazan lands and salt pans.
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The DoP has directed the secretary to submit his explanation as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
While the DoP found faults with the replies given by the secretary, it may be recalled that the ACB, which is part of the Department of Vigilance, has already pulled up various State departments such as Water Resources, Power and more importantly in this case, the DoP.
“The village panchayat secretary/public information officer of Village Panchayat Cavelossim has not only entertained the vague request of the RTI application but also exceeded his response time by responding after almost 80 days. The public information officer had failed to implement the RTI Act by permitting the inspection of documents for one hour on four different occasions,” reads the show cause notice sent by the DoP.
The notice had further stated that the public information officer thereby gave the applicant monetary benefit by not collecting fees, which would otherwise be applicable if the applicant had asked for inspection of the documents on the same day.
Incidentally, the ACB had stated that the two RTI applications received by the village panchayat had not mentioned the specific period for which the applicant had sought the inspection of certain documents.
“The village panchayat secretary had shown his negligence in performing his official duty and failed to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and acted in a manner unbecoming of a government servant,” said the DoP while referring to ACB’s findings.
