Information commission says MGN Trust a public authority

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, September 20

In a case filed with it in May 2015, the Punjab Information Commission (PIC) has found that the MGN Trust is spending 95 per cent of the grants received from the state government — directly and indirectly — on giving salary to its staff.

It also said the prime land on which various institutions of the MGN Trust were running had been allotted on a nominal lease.

The commission declared the MGN Trust a public authority under Section 2(h) of the Act and has directed all school authorities to designate a public information officer (PIO) and first appellate authority, besides taking all measures as enshrined in Section 4 of the RTI Act. The Trust has also been asked to provide information to the complainant within 30 days.

The school authorities initially contended that they were not getting any financial aid directly or indirectly from the government. They said they are not under the control of the government. School authorities say, “It is purely a private institution constituted from private resources.”

As per the case filed with the State Information Commission, an RTI activist (who filed the case) had claimed, “MGN School is being run by a trust, which is a registered body under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860, and is discharging public functions in the field of education. All administrative and financial powers are vested in the chairman of the Trust, which reflects the unitary character of the Trust.”

The RTI activist asserted that the Trust receives 95 per cent grant-in-aid from the Punjab Government for the functioning of its institutions — MGN College of Education, Jalandhar; GN College of Education for Women, Kapurthala; MGN Senior Secondary School for Girls, Jalandhar; MGN Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar and MGN Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar Cantonment.

The activist has also claimed, “The Trust had been allotted six acres of prime land on a nominal annual rent of Rs 600 by the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT), which is an extended arm of the government. Similarly, the land for one of its public schools was sold to the Trust at concessional rates by the PUDA.”

As per the information procured from an RTI query, “MGN School, in its response to the RTI query, had also admitted the aforementioned facts about the assistance available to them from the government and its agencies.”

The commission, in its judgment, has clearly mentioned, “We can foresee that but for the above grants-in-aid and other concessions towards land allotments, the respondents would not have been able to run the institution in its present form. Thus, it is manifestly clear that the respondents are substantially being financed by the state government directly as well as indirectly. The Trust, in its constituent units, as such, squarely fits in the definition of a public authority under Section 2(h) (d) (ii) of the Act.”