RTI query on endosulfan rejected

KASARGOD: The Public Information Officer of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Thiruvananthapuram, has rejected a petition filed under the RTI Act for information on the soil samples collected from the district to analyse endosulfan residues.The Public Information Officer gave a terse reply to S Ganesan, an RTI activist from Secundarabad, who wanted to know the scientific parameters used in analysing the endosulfan residues in the soil collected from the areas where the pesticide was sprayed.The reply to the RTI query was: “I am to inform you that the information requested by you is not available in the office”. The information sought under the RTI Act included details of confirmatory test, details of residue analysis and information regarding the chromatograms. Though 15 questions were asked, the PIO replied that no information was available at his office. The RTI activist said in his appeal to K Thulaseedharan Nair, the appellate authority, that the reply was perfunctory and violated the provisions of the RTI Act. A copy of the letter was also sent to Dr V N Rajasekharan Pillai, executive vice-president of the KSCSTE. “The very purpose of the RTI Act is to enable a citizen to have access to information under the control of the public authority. According to the RTI Act, the information meant any material stored in any form including the data stored in electronic equipment. The state government had given `10 lakh to the KSCSTE to conduct the study,” he said. He said in his appeal that the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management is one of the seven Research and Development Centres of the KSCSTE. The residue analysis of endosulfan was carried out by the CWRDM. The Public Information Officer of the KSCSTE should have collected the information from the CWRDM, he said. The activist also questioned the identification of samples which was done with the help of NGOs, panchayat officials and Health officials. He said it was not a standard practice since the help of soil experts was not sought by the KSCSTE.  The RTI activist also complained that the website of the KSCSTE does not carry any information under section 4 of RTI Act.