Officer to appear for hearing on Apr. 5

Mysuru: Taking serious note against Mysore Medical College & Research Institute (MMC&RI) for not furnishing information under Right to Information (RTI) Act, sought by an applicant, RTI Commissioner N.P. Ramesh has asked MMC&RI’s Public Information Officer Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj, who is also the Dean and Director of MMC&RI to appear for a hearing on Apr. 5 and also to submit CCTV footages of past six months.

Applicant Komala Devi, a resident of Agrahara, had sought CCTV footages of cameras installed in the Dean’s chamber and corridor of Feb. 23, 2018 and June 4, 2018 from MMC&RI under RTI Act.  As MMC&RI failed to furnish the required footage within the stipulated period of time, Komala Devi had approached the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC).

The KIC then issued a notice to MMCRI demanding an explanation for the delay. In its reply, MMC&RI stated that footage for the two days was not available, besides adding that CCTV cameras were not installed in the Director’ chamber. Not happy with MMC&RI’s response, Ramesh asked the MMC&RI authorities to get the dysfunctional cameras fixed.

RTI Commissioner Ramesh has stated that the purpose of installing CCTV cameras was to bring in transparency in administration, and added that the apathetic attitude of the MMC&RI officials to repair defunct CCTV cameras defeated the purpose of the RTI ACT. The KIC has ordered Dr. Nanjaraj to store CCTV footages for a minimum of one year.