Latest news with #HaryanaStateInformationCommission
Indian Express
06-07-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Haryana dept supplies RTI applicant with 40,000 pages, he says ‘not enough'
The Public Health and Engineering Department in Haryana's Kurukshetra has supplied documents running into 40,000 pages to a man who had filed an application under the RTI Act seeking specific details. Kurukshetra resident Pankaj Arora, who had filed the application, now claims a large portion of the documents was irrelevant to his original queries. Arora had approached the Haryana State Information Commission, alleging delays and incomplete disclosures under the RTI Act, despite having deposited a fee of Rs 80,000 with the Public Health and Engineering Department in Kurukshetra in February and March this year. Following his request, the department provided him the a massive trove of documents — approximately 40,000 pages — on June 5 this year. The RTI application, filed on January 30, was submitted to the Executive Engineer of the department along with the prescribed postal order fee. Arora had sought records on 15 specific points, including: details of tenders floated between January 1, 2023 and January 1, 2025, licenses issued to contractors, staffing details across permanent, contractual, and outsourced categories, revenue earned, project-wise expenditures at various levels, and GST submissions by contractors. According to official records, the State Public Information Officer-cum-Executive Engineer issued a letter on February 3 demanding a documentation fee of Rs 80,000, calculated at Rs 2 per copy for 40,000 pages. On the same day, the Executive Engineer sent a separate letter to departmental juniors instructing them to process the RTI request within the stipulated time. 'Please note the consequences on account of any delay on your side, you will be personally responsible for the same,' the letter stated. Arora recounted, 'When I did not receive the information despite depositing a fee of Rs 80,000 with the department in February and March, I had to appeal to the Governor, Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Engineer-in-Chief, and other senior officials, alleging the officers were deliberately withholding information. Only after intervention from the high-ups, the department sent the documents—roughly 40,000 pages weighing one quintal and 8.2 kilograms — in June this year.' Arora claims that the reply was not only incomplete, but included voluminous irrelevant material, with 'core queries being completely avoided.' Responding to the allegations, Executive Engineer Sumit Garg told The Indian Express that the department had provided all the information as per the RTI Act and at the earliest possible time. 'The applicant has deposited a demand draft of Rs 10,000 issued in the name of a book depot, while the bank cheque deposited by him belongs to a school. We have requested the applicant to confirm whether both belong to him,' Garg said. Arora confirmed that both the book depot and school in question are under his ownership. Asked about his motive for seeking such voluminous information, Arora explained, 'I had received inputs that norms were being flouted in the execution of development works, and nepotism was being practiced in the recruitment for junior-level contractual posts.' Sukhbir Siwach's extensive and in-depth coverage of farmer agitation against three farm laws during 2020-21 drew widespread attention. ... Read More
The Print
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Saini govt explores legal options to break appointments stalemate as Congress kicks can on LoP pick
A maximum of 10 state information commissioners can be appointed to the Haryana State Information Commission, besides the chief information commissioner. Absence of an LoP has stalled critical appointments, particularly to the Haryana State Information Commission, which faced a backlog of more than 7,000 cases pertaining to Right to Information (RTI) requests as of December 2024. Gurugram: The Congress party's failure to appoint a Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Haryana Legislative Assembly has landed the Nayab Singh Saini-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in an unusual fix. It is unable to make appointments to key statutory posts. Appointments are made by the governor on the recommendation of a panel comprising the CM, LoP and a senior cabinet minister. The government, it is learnt, is seeking legal advice from the advocate general on whether it can bypass the statutory requirement of having the LoP as a part of the panel that makes recommendations to the governor. ThePrint reached Haryana government for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. Panipat-based RTI activist P.P. Kapoor, who filed the RTI that led to the disclosure about the backlog of cases pending with the Haryana State Information Commission, told ThePrint Wednesday that the situation has only worsened since the beginning of this year since the commission only has three information commissioners. Kapoor has received a response to his RTI query on 11 February. At present, the commission has three information commissioners, namely Jagbir Singh, Pradeep Kumar Shekhawat and Kulbir Chhikara. Haryana government had issued an advertisement for the role of one chief information commissioner and seven state information commissioners on 4 March. It received 345 applications, including from retired IAS, IPS, and HCS officers, as well as serving officials. A search committee, chaired by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi and comprising Additional Chief Secretaries Sudhir Rajpal and Dr Sumita Mishra, has completed the initial screening and is preparing to shortlist three candidates for each post. The final selection, however, has to be done by the committee comprising the CM, a senior cabinet minister, and the LoP, as mandated by Section 15(3) of the RTI Act, 2005. 'The government seeking legal advice from the Advocate General to find ways to proceed with the appointments stalled due to the absence of the Leader of Opposition,' a source in government told ThePrint, adding that the government is also contemplating judicial remedies based on a Supreme Court ruling from January, in a similar case from Jharkhand. In that instance, the Supreme Court had directed BJP, the largest opposition party in the state assembly, to appoint an LoP within two weeks, leading to Babulal Marandi's appointment to the post in March. As for Haryana Congress, its indecision stems from internal issues, with the party high command focusing on organisational restructuring, even six months after declaration of assembly elections results. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: In late-night police force rejig, Saini govt transfers 55 IPS, HPS officers. A look at key appointments
