Missing Files Reveal Missing Law: 66 Years On, No Official Records Act In Madhya Pradesh
NDTV
Information commissioner fines three officers for losing even the RTI application filed to track a missing certificate, asks government to frame a law
A man in Madhya Pradesh has run three rounds of red tape in three years to find a caste certificate, but the government has lost all of it — including the application he filed under the Right to Information Act to get some clarity. And this has dug up a problem that goes back decades.
Sixty-six years after Madhya Pradesh became a state, the state does not have a Public Records Act. The Centre and several other states have already enacted laws on how to handle official records.
As for the man looking for his certificate, his case reached the State Information Commissioner which has levied a penalty of Rs 58,000 on three sub-divisional magistrates and instructed the District Collector of Satna to start an inquiry.
Going further, Information Commissioner Rahul Singh also asked the government to start the process to have a law in place.
