P M Ravindran
2/18, 'Aathira',
Sivapuri, Kalpathy-678003
Tele: 0491-2576042; E-mail: raviforjustice@gmail.com
File: Comp/cmk jsp2015-distadm-110415
11
Apr 2015
Through the District Collector, Palakkad
CM’S JSP 2015, PALAKKAD: COMPLAINT- DISTRICT
ADMINISTRATION
1.
While it can be easily said that the district administration
is a total farce and a 100% drain on the exchequer, the following few issues
are listed because of the simplicity of the requirement and the grossness of
the failure of the public servants involved:
1.1. The failure to comply with the directions
contained in Kerala Govt Circular No 168/AR 13(2)/09/UBPV dated 12 Jan 2009.
The directions are in two parts:one is regarding issuing of receipts for
documents submitted by the public and the other is regarding displaying this
information along with the copy of the receipt in a board of specific size, for
the benefit of the public.
1.2. The
failure to comply with Sec 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act
1.3. The
failure to comply with Sec 5 of the RTI Act
1.4. The
failure to comply with Sec 6(3) of the RTI Act
2.
Regarding the matter of issuing receipts, though the
Circular is of 12 Jan 2009, even as on 1/3/14, the Huzur Sirastadar had only
given directions as reproduced below, vide Note 5 in file No 2014/14649/9:
And
as a matter of fact even this has not been complied with till date! Neither
the board nor its substitute is anywhere visible in the premises of the
Collectorate. The Civil Station complex, housing the Collectorate, has so many
offices that it would have been prudent to display atleast one board each, may
be a little larger in size, at the various access points to the complex!
Even
in the matter of providing receipts the order is not being complied with,
with brazen contempt for the authority issuing such orders and denying a basic
right of the public seeking services of the government. In this context your
attention is invited to my complaints
through e mails dated 31/1/2015 and 14/2/15 both addressed to chiefminister@kerala.gov.in,
cmoffice@kerala.gov.in and cm-grccell@kerala.gov.in with copy to dcpkd@kerala.nic.in
and pkd_collectorate@messaging.kerala.gov.in. It also needs to be placed on
record that there has been no response to those complaints till date!
Continued
...
3.
Regarding non compliance with Sec 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act,
I had inspected the documents on 22/8/14 and found that except for one register with partial info
of some employees having their names, designation and records held there were
no records available providing the info that is required to be disclosed
proactively/suo moto under this section. The 2nd appeal on this application is
pending with the Kerala State Information Commission (KSIC) since 28/10/14!
4.
Regarding non compliance with Sec 5 of the RTI Act, even
when the public servant dealing with the file on the subject has made an
assertion, relevant extract reproduced below, the SAPIO, o/o the DC, Palakkad
has been returning applications to the applicant, blatantly violating the law
on the subject.
xxxxx
xxxxx
While many
examples can be given one instance will suffice to prove the perfidy of the
public servants involved. In this context your attention is invited to
Collectorate Palakkad letter No 2014/37925/9 dated 23/6/14.
In this
context it is also reiterated that the KSIC letter quoted therein is not only
illegal and invalid but is just another example of treachery by the public
servants involved in implementing and enforcing the law.
Your
attention is also invited to para 5 of Kerala Govt Circular 1 reference, No
77000/Cdn5/06/PBV dated 30 Oct 2006.
Your
attention is also invited to the fact the CAPIOs in Head Post Offices are
accepting applications and appeals to any central public authority and
forwarding them to the concerned addressees, leaving no room for doubt in the
matter of interpretation of the functions of the APIOs.
5.
Regarding non compliance with Sec 6(3) of the RTI Act,
Collectorate Palakkad letters No E3-2009/49675/9 dated 16/7/2011 and LRG6-2011/40278/9 dated 12/8/2011, both in response to my one application, dated 14/7/2011, under the RTI Act, speak for
themsleves about the wayward functioning of the public authority, headed by
none other than the Head of the District Administration itself! While the
application had been transferred (in a manner of pure palming off of
Continued...
responsibility)
to Akshaya Kendra for providing info on UID, it was not followed in providing
info on computerisation of land records! That the office of the District
Collector should have had this info and did not have it is in itself a matter
of serious concern and the direction to collect the info from respective
tehsildars can only be seen as a matter of evading provision of the required
info! As events turned out, even the info about UID that was ultimately
provided on 21/11/12 by the PIO of
Collectorate, Palakkad, on the orders of the information commissioner, were
copies of two letters: Cabinet Secretary, New Delhi letter No
DO/281/1/5/2011-TS dated 4th Apr 2011
addressed to all Chief Secretaries and Govt of Kerala order GO(rt) No
37/2011/ITD dated 26/2/2011! The
most notable thing about the GO is that the District Collector is the Working
Chairperson of the District Implementation and Monitoring Committee for UID!
6.
Even as late as on 9/3/15, the PIO, o/o the District
Collector, Palakkad had refused to comply with Sec 6(3) of the RTI Act, inspite
of my having quoted Central Information Commissioner’s order dated 16 Jun 2011 in Appeal No
CIC/SM/A/2011/000278/SG which amply clarifies the scope of Sec 6(3) of the RTI
Act.
7.
Lastly, on seeking info about the expenses incurred in
organising the earlier Jana Samparkka Paripadi, only the following info was
provided, vide Collectorate Palakkad letter No PGR3-2013/72809/9 dated
10/12/2013.
This is
without doubt blatant violation of Sec
6(3) of the RTI Act. But interestingly, it had been reported in the media that one
MLA, Mr George Sebastian, had got info under the RTI Act that a total of Rs
24.24 Cr was distributed and Rs 4.32 Cr were expended in organising the last
Jana Samparkka Paripadi.
(http://manoramanews.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/mmtvVideoGallery.do?tabId=14&contentId=15686775)
The question is who had provided the compiled info or did the MLA seek information
from atleast 6 public authorities in each district to arrive at these figures?
8.
While, in the matter of complying with the RTI Act, the
action required to be taken by the Head of the Public Authority, that is, the District
Collector, in this case, is obvious, the
following practical method of implementing the order on issuing receipts is
placed on record:
8.1. The
present method of issuing receipts, only to those demanding it, with file
numbers as receipt numbers should be discontinued forthwith. All those
activities, like scanning the document, assigning file numbers etc are tasks
that have nothing to do with issuing receipts across the counter. The receipt
numbers have to be in series and printed and is much like the serial number
(and date) of a register maintained for recording receipt of tapal. If the
receipts are maintained in book form (example TR-5) then the serial number
would be continuous over a period of time and will be associated with the book
number also; but, if computer generated,
Continued...
it needs
to continous only for a particular day and will be associated with the date.
This can, and should be done across the counter, and would not take more than a
minute to provide a receipt for a document.
8.2. Since
documents like applications under the RTI Act involve payment of fees also,
whoever is providing receipts for documents should be tasked with providing
receipts, on TR-5, for cash also. Alternately the public servants designated as
PIOs should be tasked with providing both the receipts for applications/appeals
and fees. The kind of running around required and delay, as reported in my e
mails dated 31/1/15 and 14/2/15, referred to in para 2 above, need not and
cannot be accepted.
9.
The RTI Act provided a window of opportunity to usher in
real democracy in this country. However the treacherous public servants have
murdered this law as well as other citizen friendly directions from competent
authorities. If the Chief Minister of the State cannot ensure that the services
of the government due to the citizens are delivered promptly and correctly then
the citzens would be better off without such Chief Ministers and the white
elephants that are legally called institutions of governance.
Yours
truly,
(P M
Ravindran)
No comments:
Post a Comment