Nagpur: The Nagpur University is once again dilly-dallying on providing information sought under Right to Information (
RTI) Act. This is the third instance since February 18 when NU’s reluctance in supplying information under the Act has come to fore.
Activist and lawyer Ankita Shah has been trying without success since January to gather information about penalties levied by the
NU on different colleges.
Responding to her first query filed on January 10, NU college section had stated that just Jai Mahalaxmi Arts, Commerce and Science College Karanja (Lad), Wardha, was imposed a cost of Rs25,000 over its failure to seek continuation of affiliation in last five years. On March 7, TOI had reported about this along with the names of four other colleges that were totally fined Rs16 lakh in the last one year. On February 18, TOI reported how the NU authorities failed to provide complete information pertaining to inquiry panels constituted by NU and its statutory bodies from January 1, 2008, to November 30, 2017.
Now, the exam section has asked Shah to "specify type of penalty" while returning her RTI plea that was first forwarded to the college section in January. Shah said she was seeking data of all types of penalties and therefore there was no need to specify.
When TOI pointed this out to vice-chancellor SP Kane, he defended the exam section’s move and said purpose should be mentioned in RTI queries. “I have told employees to only provide information that can be given through documents. Information needing compilation can’t be provided as it will disrupt official work,” Kane said.
Shah questioned the authority of VC as far as RTI queries were concerned. “Who is he to decide what and how the information will be provided as per the RTI Act? VC must clarify his role. How can he define norms when the Act is there,” she asked. Shah also said the exam section must justify its stand under Section 8 of the Act where conditions were laid to refuse information.
Shah also slammed NU for not preserving the records in online form. “The courts, police and even municipal bodies are moving towards digitization. The prime minister and chief minister are promoting Digital India. Only Nagpur University is not willing to digitize its records,” she said.
