Williamnagar, August 29: Social activist, Nilbath Ch Marak has slammed the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare (DHFW) after the department replied to the Meghalaya State Information Commissioner (MSIC) stating that the information requested by the activist had been provided to him.
The clarification by the department comes after Nilbath filed a complaint with the MSIC on Jul 18 this year after the PIO did not provide him the required information under the RTI Act, 2005. Marak had filed the RTI with the DFHW in May 24, seeking information under the Act.
Marak had waited for over 70 days prior to filing the complaint with the MSIC.
In their reply to the MSIC, the PIO had stated that the necessary information had already been delivered to the activist’s son on Jul 23 at Williamnagar.
What is interesting is the fact that the department actually sent the information 5 days after the activist filed his complaint with the CIC, which was also reported in the media.
“As an information seeker, I expected them to reply to my RTI within 30 days and if they failed to do so, to communicate with me regarding the delay. They chose to ignore my RTI and it was only after I filed a complaint with the CIC that they sent me the required information. Their statement is misleading as the information was supposed to be handed over within 30 days and to let me know of any delay,” informed Nilbath.
Marak has also filed another complaint against the PHE department of East Garo Hills (EGH) with the MSIC, the hearing for which is still awaited, despite the passage of more than 2 months.