Belagavi: Government officials should not deny information to applicants citing unavailability of related files, said SL Patil , commissioner of Karnataka State Information Commission.If information is denied citing such reasons, there is a provision to initiate legal action against such officers, he added. He was speaking at a workshop on RTI Act organized for information officers and first appellate authority at the ZP Hall here on Thursday.Patil said every government office is supposed to preserve files for a prescribed duration. Even though files are damaged, they can be regenerated. Protection of government documents is the responsibility of officials, he said.“Providing information to applicants will become easy if officers study five-six sections of the RTI Act. The penalty will increase if applications are neglected. Embarrassment to senior officers can be avoided if junior officers do work efficiently,” the commissioner said.Patil said officers can also give information about private institutions if it is available in the office. However, they can’t provide personal information about anybody including government officials.Officers can provide a list of beneficiaries of government schemes with permission of the beneficiaries concerned since it’s an information of a third party, he added.Provide data onlinePatil suggested officers to upload all information related to their department on the website voluntarily, which can reduce RTI applications up to 70%. Patil said there is no need of providing information in a manual form if it is available online.Provision to penalize applicantsPatil said penalties in the RTI Act applies to applicants too. The information commission won’t tolerate the misuse of the Act. There are provisions in the Act to penalize the applicant if the asked information is not for public use, he said.

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