To ensure hassle-free access to governance-related information to people, the Madhya Pradesh Information Commission has directed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's office to appoint Public Information Officers (PIOs) to reply to RTI queries.
The move follows a complaint by anti-corruption activist Ajay Dubey to the transparency watchdog that RTI queries to the CMO and the chief secretary's office were being answered by the PIO of the general administration department.
A PIO acts as a nodal officer to receive and dispose of RTI applications received at the department concerned.
As per the Right to Information Act, all public authorities (or government departments) must have Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) or PIO and Assistant PIOs to deal with the applications made under the transparency law.
In its order, the MP Information Commission said according to the RTI Act, the offices of chief secretary and the CMO are public authorities.
It is directed that the chief secretary's office and the CMO appoint both the PIOs and Assistant PIOs as per their need to ensure that information is easily accessible to people, the order said.
Dubey termed the order an important step towards transparency. "The state government should have on its own appointed the officers for quick disposal of the RTI Act.
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