State Information Commissioner K.A. Thippeswamy has written to the Secretary to the Urban Development Department recommending penal action against Joint Commissioner of the Mangalore City Corporation M.K. Gadkar for failing to respond to a question under the Right to Information Act.
In a recent order, Mr. Thippeswamy has recommended incorporation of Mr. Gadkar’s lapse in the annual confidential report, apart from levying a penalty on him.
The case was taken to the Karnataka Information Commission by Krishnappa Konchadi of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). In his petition filed under Section 18 (1) of the RTI Act, Mr. Konchadi said that he had sought details of the money spent from the funds reserved by the city corporation for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. He said that he had also asked how many Dalit families had benefited from the scheme of providing drinking water tanks from the reserve fund.
In his order, Mr. Thippeswamy said, “There was no response from the respondent within the stipulated period of 30 days.” And a response was provided only after summons was issued to Mr. Gadkar by the commission.
Reacting to the issue, Commissioner of the corporation K.N. Vijayaprakash conceded that his official had erred. “We are very serious about issues related to vulnerable sections. We will sternly deal with any attempt to subvert social justice and economic inclusion,” he said.
