ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS DECLINE TO DIVULDGE THEIR ASSETS UNDER RTI

 By Aires Rodrigues


Officers of the Goa’s Electricity department have declined to disclose their assets under the Right to Information Act. Under the Right to Information Act had been sought from every government department and government owned Corporations copies of the Annual property returns filed by the officers for the year 2010 and 2011.

A total of 111 officials of the electricity department are required to file their annual property returns which besides the Chief Electrical Engineer includes 2 Superintending engineers, 22 Executive Engineers and 86 Assistant Engineers.

While declining to furnish the information Electricity department Public Information Officer Mr. Bharat Nigalye who himself is a Executive Engineer has informed that the annual property returns of the officers was third party and personal information that could not be furnished under the Right to Information Act.

As per the Civil Services Rules all Group A and Group B officials are supposed to file their Annual Property Returns as on December 31 by January 31 of the next year.

Every other government department and all government corporations have furnished the information on Annual property returns of officers sought under RTI. The reason for the Electricity department to deny this information is very obvious.

In keeping with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s promise of zero tolerance to corruption, the annual property returns of all government officers should be displayed on the website of their department as is being done in most other States and also by Central government departments.

Some of the officers have filed their Annual property returns only after the information was sought under Right to Information Act. The returns filed by many officers are incomplete, evasive and misleading. Several officers had grossly under valued their acquired properties.

This over 1500 pages of information of annual property returns of officers received from various departments and corporations would be scrutinized and analyzed for discrepancies and a detailed report would be placed before the Goa Lokayukta as soon as he is appointed for necessary and appropriate action against those alleged erring officials.