Officials must provide information without negligence, says Information Commissioner

Public Information Officers should provide information to applicants without any negligence, Karnataka State Information Commissioner Rudranna Harthikote said here on Saturday.

Addressing a training workshop on the Right to Information Act in Bidar, he reminded officials that information sought under the Act must be furnished within 30 days. “The Right to Information is a fundamental right. Articles 19(A) and 21(A) of the Constitution relate to this right. The 1975 Raj Narain vs Uttar Pradesh judgment strongly upheld citizens’ right to know, and based on this principle, the RTI Act was enacted in 2005,” he said.

The Commissioner said that of the 55,143 applications received in the State so far, 36,206 had been disposed of, and the remaining cases would also be resolved in a time-bound manner. Under the RTI Act, penalties amounting to ₹10.16 crore had been imposed in 10,735 cases. However, only ₹2.70 crore had been recovered in 3,084 cases.

In Bidar district, 383 applications were pending — the highest being in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department (215), followed by the Urban Development Authority (58), Revenue Department (54), Social Welfare Department (21), and other departments (35). “Bidar has the lowest number of pending applications in the entire Kalyana Karnataka region,” he said. Penalties of ₹9.2 lakh had been imposed in 106 cases in the district, but only ₹87,000 had been collected in seven cases, he added.

Bengaluru Bench Information Commissioner Rajshekhar S. said the RTI Act was introduced to promote good governance, transparency and to curb corruption. “Officials must work within timelines and safeguard public interest. The RTI Act is among the most widely used laws in the world. Citizens must make proper use of it,” he said.

Kalaburagi Bench Information Commissioner B. Venkata Singh added that 6,768 cases were pending in the Kalaburagi region, most of them related to the Panchayat Raj Department. “Many PDOs fail to provide information on time, leaving applications pending. Disposal at the lower level is the most effective method. Both officials and the public must understand the Act’s provisions and court judgments related to it,” he said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Shivanand Karale, Bidar Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Shakeel and other officials were present.