The Rajasthan Information commission has imposed a fine of Rs55,000 on five government officials for failing to provide information under the Right to Information Act. The fine will be deducted from the salaries of the officials, a statement from the commission said.
The five officials are from the Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, and Local Self Government departments. This includes two officials of the Panchayati Raj and Rural Development department who were fined Rs 15,000 each. The information commission has informed the two departments about the penalty imposed on the officials.
State Information Commissioner Lakshman Singh has imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the village development officer of Sata gram panchayat in Barmer district and Rs 15,000 on the village secretary of Kurna village in Pali district.
A fine of Rs. 10,000 was imposed on the village secretary of Bhakhri village in Jodhpur district after he did not provide the information sought.
Bhagwan Singh of Sata village has sought information regarding supply of ration on September 10, 2018. When the village development officer did not provide the information, Singh approached the information commission. Despite five notices sent by the commission, the officer failed to provide the information.
Expressing displeasure, the commission fined the village development officer and directed him to provide free information to the petitioner.
Similarly, in Kurna, a villager has sought information on December 20, 2018 regarding the meeting of the gram panchayat and the cash book. After four notices by the commission failed to elicit a reply, the commission put a penalty of Rs 15,000 on the concerned official.
In two other matters, state information commissioner Narayan Bareth slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on the secretary of the Kota Urban Improvement Trust (UIT). Kuldeep Kapoor had complained to the commission that the UIT had failed to give him information he had asked for in June 2019.
Bareth also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each in two separate cases against an executive engineer of the Asind municipality in Bhilwara district.
