Mumbai: Maharashtra Government has imposed a fine of over Rs 26 lakh collectively on primary information officers for ignoring and delaying the queries received under
Right to Information Act.
On completion of five years of implementation of RTI, as per the figures revealed by state`s Chief Information Commissioner, Suresh Joshi on Monday, in 2009, 347 officers were fined for Rs 26,57,691 ignoring and delaying the queries.
The amount of fine imposed has gone up since 2006, he said. "The fine was charged in proportion to the number of applications received which are increasing per year," Joshi
said. The Government can even conduct divisional enquiry of the officers for delay in implementation of the Act, he added.
Claiming better implementation of the Act in the state, Joshi said Maharashtra received 4.4 lakh applications last year while six lakh queries were received in entire America.
Even the disposal rate is as high as 102 per cent, he said. Most queries were regarding Urban Development and Revenue Departments, 1,25,418 and 72,393 respectively.
Meanwhile, Joshi, state`s first CIC has completed his tenure and is likely to be replaced by Vilas Patil, sources said.
PTI
