Raipur, Chhattisgarh: Commissioner, Chhattisgarh State Information Commission, Dhanvendra Jaiswal after hearing 3,836 cases in the last two-and-a-half years has imposed fine in 85 cases for negligence in providing timely information to the applicants.

It includes not following the proper implementation of the Right to Information Act. A fine of more than Rs 37 lakh has been imposed on the concerned public information officers. The State Information Commissioner's Court has imposed the fine in the order passed from March 2021 to September 2023.

These public information officers include Joint Collector, Tehsildar, CEO District Panchayat, Block Education Officer, Mineral Officer, Women and Child Development Officer, Public Information Officer of Medical College and Secretaries of Gram Panchayats and others. Similarly, disciplinary action is also being recommended by the Commission against the first appellate officers.

The CIC has made online arrangements for hearing of second appeals and complaints under the Right to Information Act. Appellants can apply online as well as offline. The hearing is conducted from the video conferencing room of NIC located in the collector office of all the districts. Due to this, applicants do not need to come to Nava Raipur. The SIC had started to hear cases through mobile in June 2023.