New Delhi

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has informed the Central Information Commission (CIC) that no information is available at its headquarters regarding orders for diversion of food grains under the Public Distribution System (PDS).

The response came in reply to a request filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005 seeking details about the process followed before approving PDS release order diversion and records of such proposals authorised by the FCI between 2018-19 and 2022-23 in a region-wise manner.

The application also sought details related to cost-benefit analyses, transportation expenditure, beneficiary handling and transport contractors, pending financial liabilities and districts without operational railheads for foodgrain handling.

Replying to the request, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of FCI headquarters said that information on most of the points pertained to regional offices and transferred the application to all regional offices under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act for further action.

However, the headquarters shared relevant circulars and standing instructions governing diversion of PDS release orders.

During the first appeal, the First Appellate Authority (FAA) stated that “as per the available record of the sales division FCI Hq., no information with respect to region-wise release order diversion is traceable”.

The authority added that diversion of PDS release orders is an operational matter handled at district and regional office levels.

The FAA also directed the CPIO of the sales division at the headquarters to review the records again and provide documents if they were traced. It further forwarded the RTI application to regional offices for directly supplying the information to the applicant.

During the hearing before the CIC, the appellant said that complete information had not been provided by the regional offices despite the RTI application being transferred.

After examining the matter, Information Commissioner Khushwant Singh Sethi observed that although the application had been transferred as per the RTI Act, the regional offices had not furnished the requested information so far.

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The Commission subsequently issued a show-cause notice to the respondent department asking why penalty proceedings under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act should not be initiated for failing to provide the information. It also directed the concerned CPIOs from the regional offices to appear in the show-cause proceedings.