[Commons-Law] Want information? Pay Rs.53,860

[Prashant Iyengar]

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/04/stories/2008070457980800.htm Back

Kerala - Kochi

Want information? Pay Rs.53,860

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: The District Planning Officer, Palakkad, has asked an
information seeker under the Right to Information Act to pay Rs.53,860
towards the cost of providing information relating to use of MPs'
funds. The cost includes Rs.13,000 for photocopying the documents,
Rs.30,560 for paying two research assistants for compiling the
information, Rs.300 for loading and unloading charges and Rs.4,000 as
postal charges.

D.B. Binu of Kochi, a lawyer and campaigner for Right to Information,
who had sought the details of Kerala MPs' Local Area Development fund,
said the demand was illegal and against the spirit of the RTI Act. He
said he would appeal to the State Information Commission.

According to him, the rules framed by the Kerala government only
require the information seeker to pay Rs.2 per page of certified copy
of the information sought. Those belonging to the below poverty line
(BPL) category need not pay even this. Mr. Binu had requested the
Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi to give him the details of the
funds utilised by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs from Kerala. The PMO,
after providing some details like the guidelines for using the funds,
had asked the Secretariat at Thiruvananathapuram to provide the rest
of the details.

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