PANJIM: The Goa State Information Commission has highlighted a case of non- compliance with the Right to Information (RTI) Act, where a Public Information Officer (PIO) in the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department failed to provide necessary assistance to an applicant, leading to denial of information. The Commission has deemed this conduct deserving of penalties.
In a recent judgment, Goa State Information Commissioner Sanjay N Dhavalikar emphasised that the PIO’s role, as outlined in Section 5(3) of the RTI Act, is to assist the applicant when the requested information is unclear. However, in this case, the PIO disregarded this responsibility, did not take efforts to comprehend the applicant’s request and instead denied the information without due consideration.
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The case pertains to a query made by Joaquim Fernandes, a resident of Curtorim, regarding the criteria for the zoning change of certain land in Curtorim village from settlement zone to paddy field in Regional Plan 2021. The PIO rejected the request, citing that the query pertained to criteria, thus labelling it a secondary query outside their scope.
GSIC Dhavalikar determined that the applicant had indeed sought information about the criteria for the change in zoning. The PIO, as the custodian of such information, should have furnished the relevant details to the applicant.
Despite opportunities, the PIO neither provided the information nor appeared before the Commission. This disregard for responsibility has prompted the Commission to admonish the PIO for his uncooperative and dismissive behaviour.
The essence of the RTI Act is to instil transparency in public administration, a principle that the PIO’s actions have contradicted, said Dhavalikar.
Consequently, the PIO has been summoned to appear before the Commission on August 28 to respond to the show cause notice.
