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| Black-marketing of postal orders: Rs 10 IPO sold for Rs 40 in Doda | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 11: Officials of Postal Department in Doda have been found selling Rs 10 Indian Postal Orders (IPOs) in black market.
The IPOs of Rs 10 are in great demand in view of being used as RTI application fees, but whenever RTI applicants go to local head post office or surrounding post offices the officials there say postal orders have been sold out.
Details available with Early Times reveal that IPOs of Rs 10 denomination are being allegedly sold for Rs 40 by the stamp papers vendors and petition writers around tehsil office Doda.
Local RTI activist Mehraj Khalid Banday while talking to Early Times said that he went to post office several times and officials there said postal orders are not available. "If it is not available there why it is available with stamp paper vendors and petition writers? IPOs are being sold in black market by these vendors. I appeal Chief Information Commissioner Khurshid Ganai and DC Doda to intervene," Khalid added.
Pertinently, under J&K RTI Rules and central RTI Rules, application fees is to be submitted by cash, postal order and demand draft. Majority of information seekers, as per reports, send RTI application by speed post and RTI fee cannot be paid by cash. Banks do not make DD for Rs 10 and the only viable option left with RTI applicants is to keep IPO attached with RTI application.
As reported in past by Early Times in around 90% of the post offices across J&K the IPO of Rs 10 is not at all available and the same is only available at GPOs or head post offices. But now head post offices are also playing a mockery with RTI by selling the IPOs to stamp paper vendors in bulk.
Earlier the General Post Office (GPO) Srinagar had denied to share details about the sale of IPOs across various districts of Kashmir. The Public Information Officer (PIO) of GPO Srinagar had told an information seeker that he cannot provide the information in an excel format and after some time information had been completely denied.
The GPO Srinagar had provided a misleading information to a noted RTI activist in the year 2016 wherein the Senior Postmaster had informed in writing that information under RTI Act cannot be provided in an excel format.
The GPO officials seem to be unaware that Excel format is an easy mode of providing information and due to lack of computer knowledge they have related excel with an RTI section. The reply sent via speed post under letter No: RTI /MISC/2015 Dated 20/06 /2016 reads as: "The Information sought to be supplied in an excel format does not fall under the purview of section 2 (F) of Right to Information Act 2005."
"I was under this impression that after 30 days information would be provided to me in some other format other than excel, but the information has been completely denied to me," said the information seeker. |
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