This commission is of the view that information about the development / welfare schemes planned and executed in the villages falling within the domain of Union Council Kirpa during the financial year 2011-12 to 2019-20, funds spent / utilized on execution of each of the said schemes and Details of development / welfare schemes planned for villages falling within the domain of Union Council Kirpa during the financial years 2011-12 to 2019-20 but were not executed along with reason(s) for the same is public information. This information should not only have been provided to the Appellant on his request but it should have been published on the web site of the Respondent as well.
commission takes strong exception to the fact that the Respondent has failed to respond to the duly sent notices of this commission. If directions of the commission in this Order are not followed, it will be left with no option but to invoke Section 20 (f) of the Right of Access to Information Act 2017.
The deafening silence of the Chief Commissioner, Islamabad Capital Territory with regard to the request for information and the notices of the commission demonstrates that the Respondent is oblivious to the shifting sands of time. The Right of Access to Information Act 2017 has empowered citizens to seek information from civil servants and they are legally bound to acknowledge their information requests and respond to them within specific time-frame.