CIC files on its publicity expenses not traceable

Some crucial files related to funds spent on media publicity for the Central Information Commission's annual conventions during last two years are not "readily traceable", an RTI response shows.
The CIC, which is also a watchdog for record keeping in the government offices, in a recent response to activist Lokesh Batra said that the files related to expenditure on publicity are not "readily traceable".
The central government had allowed the transparency panel to spend Rs 12 lakh for organising its annual conventions besides Rs 64.81 lakh and Rs 7.50 lakh, for media campaign through DAVP and advertisement in Air India's in-flight magazine respectively.

When Batra sought details of on media expenditure sanctioned by DoPT, CPIO of CIC, S K Rabbani said, "...In this regard, it is informed that the concerned file pertaining to organising convention/ events is not readily traceable. Requisite reply will be sent as the concerned file is traced."
The Commission, however, gave figures of expenditure incurred on its annual convention saying Rs 12.06 lakh had been spent for the above Annual Conventions/Events during 2012-13.
"Rs 14.16 lakh had also been incurred during 2013-14," he said in a separate response to Batra.

Batra said it wass not the first time that CIC has responded to his RTI saying file(s) are not traceable.

"It clearly indicates poor management of records keeping in the Commission. Irony is that what commission preaches does apply in its home.
"The analyses of expenditure reveal that instead of maintaining austerity keeping with the spirit of the RTI Act, CIC had been doing wasteful expenditure of taxpayer's money on five star hospitality and expenditure on items those can be easily dispensed with," Batra alleged.