Central Information Commission
Mr. Ketan Pradyumna vs Indian Institute Of Management ... on 7 July, 2009
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Club Building (Near Post Office),
Old JNU Campus, New Delhi - 110067.
Tel: +91-11-26161796
Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2009/001314/4020
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2009/001314
Relevant Facts emerging from the Appeal
Appellant : Mr. Ketan Pradyumna
Om, 1, Gunjan Park,
AMC Office Road,
Thaltej Lake, Ahmedabad, Gujrat
Respondent : Mr. K. S. Joshi
Public Information Officer
Indian Institute of Management
Allahabad
Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, Gujrat
RTI application filed on : 09/12/2008
PIO replied : 08/01/2009
First appeal filed on : 07/02/2009
First Appellate Authority order : 13/03/2009
Second Appeal filed on : 21/05/2009
Information sought:
S. No. Information Sought PIO's Reply
1. Response of Dr. Singhania, Not Aware.
Chairperson, BoG, IIMA to my letter dated 1st July 2008.
2. If there is any delay in responding, NA in the light of above.
then names of officials responsible for delay and action proposed to be taken against them.
3. If there exists a policy document on Grievance of the employees were grievance redressal mechanism for addressed on a one to one basis from the employees (other than faculty), then inception of the Institute. Collective
i) Date since which current grievances were dealt with the employees policy is in force. Union. In 80's an open door system was
ii) A copy of the policy introduced by the then Director wherein document. any employee who had a grievance can
iii) Name(s) of officials who walk to his office. Staff committees also formulated this policy. served as Grievance Committee till some
iv) For each previous time back.
versions of that policy, The Institute has constituted grievance
please also provide with redressal committee. The details are as
following: follow:
a) A copy of policy document On 16th Dec'2005 a formal grievance
b) Dates (from-to) during which redressal committee was formed with the
it was in force: following members:
v) If institute has grievance 1) Mr. S R V Anand, CAO
redressal committee, then (Chairperson)
for each successive 2) Mr. V K S Nair
committee (since 1991), 3) Mr. H J Vadher and
please provide me with On 20th Oct'2008 the Director
a) Date since which reconstituted the committee with the
that committee following members:
is/was in charge. 1) Mr. H. Anil Kumar (Chair)
b) List of members of 2) Mr. V K S Nair
that committee. 3) Mr. Laxman B. Gohil.
c) Number of The committee dealt with the grievances
grievance cases on oral basis. There have been no
redressed pending grievances.
d) Number of
grievance cases left
pending
4. If there exists a policy document on As informed in the early portion the
grievance redressal mechanism for Grievance Redressal policy is being
employees (faculty), then framed for the employees for comments
i) Date since which current policy is in force.
ii) A copy of the policy document.
iii) Name(s) of officials who formulated this policy.
iv) For each previous versions of that policy, please also provide with following:
a) A copy of policy document
b) Dates (from-to) during which it was in force:
v) If institute has grievance redressal There is no grievance redressal committee, then for each successive committee. The Director/Dean and the committee (since 1991), please individual Faculty sit and sort out the provide me with grievances, if there is any.
e) Date since which
that committee
is/was in charge.
f) List of members of
that committee.
g) Number of
grievance cases
redressed
h) Number of
grievance cases left
pending
5. For EACH grievance expressed by Grievance was taken up with at all levels.
any employee (including faculty) to All genuine grievances were dealt with
any authority/officer/manager of amicably. However, information on each
IIMA, please provide me with case is not available in one place.
following details.
a) Name(s) of employee who
expressed grievance
b) Authority to whom grievance was expressed
c) Date on which grievance was expressed
d) Names of entity (person/policy) against whom grievance was expressed
e) Brief nature of grievance
f) Current status of grievance/ progress being made If grievance has remained unaddressed/dropped, then reason thereof
6. Please refer to instructions given by various ministries of GoI, regarding quick action to be initiated by authorities at all level so as to redress grievances in a time bound manner.
a) Please provide certified copies of Available copies have been provided. the orders/instructions/etc. received from Government of India & other authorities in this regard.
b) Did your institute receive any No. The letter received include only 19 instruction with regard to point points. number 20 of the Twenty Point Programme, 1986 of GoI?
c) Does your institute follow these Yes. instruction regularly examine public media as well as local forums (including employee self evaluation and electronic forums like [email protected])
7. I would like to inspect register of No such register is maintained.
grievances (faculty as well as non- faculty) u/s 2 (j) of RTI Act, 2005 and take photocopies of selected records. Please intimate me the date/time/place when I can come to inspect.
Grounds for First Appeal:
PIO has wrongfully denied the appellant the requested information.
Order of the First Appellate Authority The FAA in his order said that rather than wasting time in filing RTO application one after the other and filing appeals one after other, the Appellant should start doing some meaningful work in the institute. He suggested that if the Appellant did not possess the skills to do the work he should acquire the competency and institute would be more than willing to help him to acquire the desired skills so that he can contribute positively to the institute. He further stated that the Appellant, time and again, has been assured that as soon as he shows results of his work, his grievances will be taken care of.
Grounds for Second Appeal:
Unsatisfactory response from the FAA.
Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing: The following were present Appellant: Mr. Ketan Bhatt.
Respondent: Mr. K. S. Joshi, PIO.
The PIO will give the following information to the Appellant:
1. The reply to query 2.
2. In reply to query 3 the PIO states clearly that there was no policy document.
3. The PIO will also state that no operational policy document existed for faculty.
4. The PIO will certify the number of copies of orders of Government of India which have been given to him regarding redressal of the grievances.
The PIO states that the institution is now formalizing a grievances redressal mechanism and a draft policy has already been announced. The Commission directs that it should be published on the website of the Institution.
Decision:
The Appeal is allowed.
The information described above will be provided to the Appellant before 20th July 2009. This decision is announced in open chamber. Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties. If information is not provided in the time stipulated under Section 7(6) of the RTI Act, it has to be provided free of cost to the Appellant Shailesh Gandhi Information Commissioner 7 July 2009 (In any correspondence on this decision, mentioned the complete decision number.) (GJ)