SHILLONG: Applicants who want to obtain information under the RTI Act, 2005 but do not have knowledge of English can now seek the information by submitting their applications in Hindi.
The 8th annual report of the Meghalaya Information Commission which was placed before the State Legislative Assembly on Friday states that an applicant can make the request either in Hindi or English as per Section 6 of the RTI Act, 2005.
The reports admit that a good number of the RTI applications written in Hindi and particularly those coming from outside the State were not being considered in time as many of the State officials were not conversant with the Hindi language.
However, delay in sending the reply amounts to rejection of the application and this may result in penalties being imposed on the Public Information Officer (PIO), the Commission informed.
Keeping this in mind, the Commission has recommended that the Meghalaya Government should appoint a Hindi translator whose function would be to assist the various public authorities in getting the RTI application written in Hindi to be translated into English for immediate necessary action by the concerned public authorities.
