Faridabad MC response tardy, RTI pleas pile up

Bijendra Ahlawat

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Faridabad, March 21

Accessing information under the provision of the RTI Act from the civic body here has become a Herculean task for many. A large number of applications filed in the past three years have been pending in the offices of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF), due to slow pace of disposal, it is reported.

“The civic body authorities have been sitting on a large number of RTI applications and have been adopting tactics to delay or avoid a response in the given time,” says Ravinder Chawla, an RTI activist here. Claiming that the number of pending applications in the office of the civic body can be well over 500, he said at least 10 applications submitted by him in the past about three years were yet to be replied to properly. He said filing a second appeal with the State Information Commission (SIC) was perhaps the last resort as the authorities were handling the matter at a slow pace. Sharing details, he said he was awaiting a reply in some of the matters which include information about cleaning of underground water tanks, production of power under the contract of waste disposal, budget allocated and development works done in the Municipal Corporation Faridabad wards. I have filed a second appeal with the SIC regarding information on the demolition of encroachments held at Khori last year.

Adopting delaying tactics

The civic body authorities have been sitting on a large number of RTI applications and have been adopting tactics to delay or avoid a response in the given time. —Ravinder Chawla, rti activist

Data of appeals yet to be ascertained

The data of pending appeals with the MCF is yet to be ascertained. —MC official

Claiming that the information regarding four of his applications have been pending, Ajay Bahl, another RTI activist said while an inquiry had been marked by the State Information Commission in two of the issues, no action had been taken regarding the rest, which include the matter relating to safety regulations for coaching institutes here. He said, this application had been filed in 2019-20. Ashok Sharma, a resident said, due to the lethargic attitude of the officials he was awaiting information regarding the budget allocation filed in January last.

However, an MC official said 40 officials had been designated as SPIOs, and if one did not get the desired information from the SPIOs the civic body also has a system to take up first appeal cases. The data of pending appeals with the Municipal Corporation Faridabad is yet to be ascertained.