Info panel’s 10-day ultimatum to Hry govt to give details

STATE INFORMATION COMMISSION GIVES DIRECTIVE IN RESPONSE TO A PLEA FILED BY GURGAONBASED

RTI ACTIVIST

The Haryana State Information Commission (HSIC) has given a 10-day ultimatum to the Haryana government to furnish information of foreign/NRI investment made in the state in the last 10 years, cautioning it that more delay in giving this information will not be accepted.

In response to a plea filed by Gurgaon-based RTI activist Harinder Dhingra, the information panel expressed shock over the reply of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) to the plea wherein it said that information related to foreign investment was not available in data form.

“The Commission finds this expression to be most curious because if information is not available in data form whether in hard copies, or electronically or digitally, then in what form information would be available? This is an observation, which requires attention of the public authority,” the order read.

Notably, the state government has spent hundreds of crores of rupees in organising events such as Pravasi Haryana Divas and Global Haryana Summit, through which it intended to attract foreign/NRI investment in the state. Besides, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been on five foreign tours so far to “project Haryana as preferred investment destination”.

However, the government has been shying away from giving details of the investment that has actually come to Haryana despite opposition parties having attacked it on the issue multiple times.

Explaining the delay, the HSIIDC told the info panel that the information related to investment could not be given as there was frequent shifting of State Public Information Officers (SPIOs) — who are responsible for replying to RTIs within HSIIDC. But the info panel said it did not find this reason adequate “because in any organization, which functions on the file/case system, there is no question of there being any inconsistency in discharging court/commission’s orders even when the branch incharge is shifted. The information being asked for is not personal knowledge of any SPIO,” it said.