Ludhiana: Despite the 30-day rule, RTI requests pending for a year

Nov 07, 2024 07:20 AM Varun Goel, an executive member of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) and an educator at LR DAV College in Jagraon, filed two RTI applications through the Connect Punjab portal on December 5 last year and January 5 this year; his requests sought information on college fixation cases related to the 7th pay commission in the Ludhiana drict and rules governing contributory provident funds for teachers in aided colleges Despite the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005 mandating that public information officers (PIOs) should give a response within 30 days, professors in the higher education domain claim they have waited for over a year without any reply to their RTI applications submitted through the Connect Punjab portal. Educator Deepanshu Sharma, said he filed an RTI on August 15 last year, seeking details about the alleged fund mismanagement at an aided college. “Even after filing appeals, I have received no response,” he added. (HT Photo) Varun Goel, an executive member of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) and an educator at LR DAV College in Jagraon, filed two RTI applications through the portal on December 5 last year and January 5 this year. His requests sought information on college fixation cases related to the 7th pay commission in the Ludhiana drict and rules governing contributory provident funds for teachers in aided colleges. “I also asked for the certified copies of rules and regulations which the state government allows the managements or employers of aided colleges to keep contributory provident fund as unrecognised provident fund in the form of savings accounts in bank but I got no response even after a year despite filing first and second appeals. Thus, I turned to the State Information Commission, but my complaint is still pending,” said Goel. Another educator, Deepanshu Sharma, said he filed an RTI on August 15 last year, seeking details about the alleged fund mismanagement at an aided college. “Even after filing appeals, I have received no response,” he added. Professors also pointed out that the Connect Punjab portal has not been updated. Goel explained, “The PIO led on the portal retired last year, and the official handling our first appeals had been transferred. This outdated portal is causing huge delays for us as we do not know whom to contact to seek updates on our RTIs.” Educators are calling for an overhaul of the portal’s information to avoid further delays in accessing information. Responding to concerns over the delayed RTI responses, DPI (Higher education) director Sanyam Aggarwal assured of a swift action. “I will get it checked and direct the people concerned to make changes on the portal as required. I will also review the pending RTIs to ensure that responses are sent as soon as possible,” said Aggarwal. See more News / Cities / Bhopal / Ludhiana: Despite the 30-day rule, RTI requests pending for a year