Tura, July 4: Angered at being denied information that they sought under the RTI Act, 2005 from various departments, the Achik Society for Social Welfare (AOWS) has threatened to seek legal recourse against the officers as well as departments unwilling to provide information.
In a press communiqué, the general secretary of AOWS, Premiar Sangma claimed that they have sought information on the progress of projects under different heads in the state, including the RUSA sponsored Rongjeng College, District Selection Committees (DSC), state health department (PHCs) among others.
“We filed RTIs with these departments as there are concerns over the status of these projects. These RTIs were filed more than 2 months ago. However, till date, there has been no communication from them and follow ups have not made any headway. This is illegal as RTI is a constitutional right and the denial is a denial of the Constitution,” said Premiar.
The NGO condemned the denial of public information asking as to why this was being denied to them.
“If they have nothing to hide then they should be transparent in their dealings. Information that they give is half baked and some of them are outright denying it. The departments seem not willing to abide by the Constitution of India,” he added.
He said that appellate authorities within the department too have not acted against the RTI denial or punished officers for their illegal act, felt Premiar. Appeals, he added, have also been made to the state CIC, which too has been unmoved.
The NGO leader added that having no other recourse, they were going to take up the matter with the Courts as laws so that those going against the right to information, taken to task.
