RIGHT OF INFORMATION ACT - BOON FOR PROPERTY MATTERS
After hectic deliberations, the
Right of Information Act of 2005 finally got the nod in both the upper and
lower house of the Parliament. The Act came into effect from 12th of
Oct 2005. With this, the law is now valid and applicable for the whole country
irrespective of any state. This Act proves as a great windfall to the property
industry as the building related documents which could not be procured easily
from the Government departments viz. Taluk Office, Corporation Office,
Sub-Registrar Office, Survey Department, Assistant Commissioner’s Office etc.,
can now be got, studied and verified well in advance before embarking on any
project.
This Act is a blessing in disguise
for the citizens of the Nation. If used properly, this may act as a weapon to
bring down the corruption level to a naught. Needless to say, corruption is
rampant in our country everywhere, especially, Government departments and
Municipal corporations. It is a known fact that unless the officials are
bribed, nothing works. Right from the lowest level to the top level officials,
the bribe gets distributed and then only the work may progress without any
hindrance. The citizen is greatly
disturbed and distressed by these deeds but he can be just a mute spectator.
But with the enactment of the Right to Information Act, there is a bright ray
of hope as this Act gives power and paves the way for the honest citizen or a
builder to get his files cleared if there is any undue delay.
At the outset, let us understand the
significant aspects of this legislation.
Section 2(j) of the said Act defines the right to information.
‘Right of Information’ is the right to acquire
information accessible under the Act which is held by or under the control of
any public authority and includes the right to –
a) Inspection of work, documents,
records
b) Taking notes, extracts or
certified copies of documents or records
c)
Taking certified samples of material
d)
Obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video
cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such
information is stored in a computer or in any other device.
A very encouraging development as
far as this Act is concerned that it is just not restricted to Government and
Municipal Corporations but also includes public authorities viz. organizations,
NGO’s and other bodies which are financed by the Government.
Let us throw some light on how this
Act can be used in practical.
1) A person submits a plan to the
BMP Office for sanction. But sanctioning process undergoes an inordinate delay
due to the fact of non-bribing of the concerned officials which eventually puts
the citizen into a lot of anguish. Using this Act, he can now directly meet the
officer and question him on the following issues.
a) What is the status of his plan?
b) How many other plans were
submitted on the day on which plans was submitted by him?
c) Out of those plans, how many have
been sanctioned?
d) What has happened to all the
other plans?
Further, he is now entitled to ask
for the inspection of documents, records, take notes and obtain certified
copies.
2) A person applies for a ration
card. As usual, it gets into rough weather
as the concerned officials are not
fed properly. Now with this Act, he can go and contact the concerned and ask
for the reasons for the delay just like the above case. The above said are just
stray cases and the said Act can be used to elicit
any type of information from any
departments except a few.
Under the Act, it is imperative now
for all the administrative offices of Public Authorities to appoint a Public
Information Officer. He will act as a catalyst between the citizen who wants
the information and the concerned department. In normal course, the necessary
information should be provided within a span of one month. There will be a
nominal fee collected as a token amount. Even after one month, if the
information is not provided properly or refused, the person can go one step
further and appeal to the appellate authority who by default will be the senior
of the said PIO in the same department.
If the Citizen wishes to appeal
against the Appellate Authority itself, he should appeal to the state or
Central Information Commissioner which is an independent constitutional
authority.
If there is a delay in providing the
information or deliberate refusal to part with the information, the PIO is
penalized at Rs. 250/- per day until the information is provided to the person.
This aspect may drive the PIO to act fast and provide all the information. It is a rule that the name of the PIO should
be prominently displayed at all the offices. If it is missing or the Citizen
cannot find the PIO, he can apply for information by addressing to the PIO of
the head office of the concerned department.
Though the Act covers almost all the
departments and enables the Citizen to get the required information,
Scientific, Economic, Security and strategic information as mentioned in the
sections 8 and 9 of the Act may not be
disclosed or can be denied out rightly. But such a scenario may not happen as a
normal citizen will not be having any business or dealings with these aspects.
The Right to Information Act is
indeed a very beneficial Act for the common man and if used in a proper and
optimum way, it may lead to less sleaze and more transparency. To top it all, this act may go one step further
and give a complete transparency vis-à-vis property documents which was until
now not very clear on various issues.
With this Act, all the documents of property can be procured easily from
the Government department’s viz. Taluk Office, Corporation Office,
Sub-Registrar Office, Survey Department, Assistant Commissioner’s Office and
the citizen can heave a sigh of relief.
To
The Public Information Officer,
(Name of the office with address)
1. Full name of the applicant:
2. Address
3.Particulars of the information
required:
i) Subject matter of information
ii) The Period to which the
information relates
iii) Description of the information
required
iv) Whether the information is
required by post or in person
(The actual postal charges shall be
included in additional fees)
4. Whether the applicant is below
the poverty line:
(If yes, then the photocopy of
the proof thereof)
Place:
Date: (Signature of the Applicant)
For More Information:
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