KOTTAYAM: 729 officials have been punished over a period of ten years for violating the law by not giving proper answers to RTI requests. A fine of Rs 37.29 lakh was also collected from them. The action of the State Right to Information Commission is for the period from January 1, 2013 to April 30, 2023. Departmental action was taken against seven of them. The highest fine was levied in 2022 - Rs 6.11 lakh.

Queries can be given on a white paper after pasting a court fee stamp and the Right to Information Officer of the respective department should reply to the queries within 30 days. Officials make the lame excuse that the information is not codified and maintained. If no reply is received, the information must be provided within 30 days for the first appeal and within 90 days for the second appeal. The commission punished the officials who did not comply with this in the sitting. The fine ranges from 1000 to 25000 rupees. A hefty fine of Rs 25,000 has been imposed on more than fifty officials.

Ones with most pending queries

Police, Vigilance, Revenue, Local Government and Devaswom Departments

Applications are pending

More than 5,000 appeals are pending with the RTI Commission. There are 24 applications from 10 years ago. The Commission should consider the applications and take action against the officials. No application has been considered after 2020. Appeals will be reduced if officials respond.

Penalty levied

2013................................... 3,65,815

2014...................................5,636,52

2015................................... 2,03,000

2016................................... 1,88,500

2017................................... 2,98,250

2018................................... 2,34,500

2019...................................3,05,500

2020...................................1,60,000

2021................................... 2,86,000

2022................................... 6,11,250

2023................................... 5,12,750