Central Information Commissioner moves appli under RTI Act

New Delhi, Aug 3 (UNI) Central Information Commissioner O P Kejariwal has himself been forced to move an application under the Right To Information Act after failing to secure residential accommodation for the past eight months.

Mr Kejariwal moved an application under the RTI Act in the Union Urban Development Ministry on August 1 seeking to know why official accommodation has not been allotted to him so far.

''Nearly two months back, the estate office informed the Chief Information Commissioner that house no.52, Lodi Estate was vacant and available for allotment and that, if I approved it, the allotment letter would follow soon,'' he wrote in the letter.

''I gave my approval immediately but I learn that the proposal having been cleared even by Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, has been pending for a formal approval in the office of the Minister, Mr Jaipal Reddy,'' he added.

''I have also written letters to the Minister in this regard but have not received any reply so far. Therefore, I am constrained to file the application under the RTI Act to elicit some response from the ministry, he wrote further.

Mr Kejariwal sought to know the date since the file was pending with the Minister, the reasons for not clearing the file till now, names of all allottees in Type VII and Type VIII (houses) from November 2005 till the date of the disposal of his application, the criteria for allotment of official accommodation in the two categories as laid down by the ministry, if any allotment has been made according to the criteria to someone after November 2005 who was junior to him and if so reasons for such discrimination.

UNI IP MQA DS1400