Chhattisgarh Information panel for extra pay to PIOs

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Chhattisgarh Information panel for extra pay to PIOs

As Reported in Yahoo! News, Jul 14,2008

Chhattisgarh State Information Commission has suggested that Government staff in various departments - designated as Public Information Officers (PIOs) - should get extra remuneration for doing additional work under the Right to Information Act.

"In addition to their routine responsibilities, Government staff have to put in extra efforts to discharge duties as PIOs, as defined under the RTI Act," the SIC stated in its annual report.

As compared to 2006, the total number of PIOs has increased by 40.65 per cent and the number of applications under the RTI Act, too, swelled by 21.23 per cent than that of the previous year.

SIC sources said it was for the first time that any RTI panel has come up with such a suggestion, taking into account the increase in their workload for gathering information sought by the applicant and to provide it within the prescribed time limit.

Stating that there was an urgent need to give more publicity to the RTI Act, the Commission urged the state Government to make adequate budgetary provision for carrying out an awareness campaign through regional centres of Doordarshan and All India Radio.

Out of the total 31,387 RTI applications received last year, 21,886 applicants belonged to urban areas and only 5,567 from rural areas. This indicates people in rural areas have to be educated about exercising their rights under the RTI Act.

Chhattisgarh Information panel for extra pay to PIOs - Yahoo! India News