<p>Karnataka Information Commission has declared Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (KCP) as public authority under the provisions of Right to Information Act.<br /><br />The Commission passed the order on August 9, on an appeal filed by a person who was denied information by the KCP.<br /><br />The appeal was filed by T Narasimha Murthy. He had filed eight applications under the RTI Act seeking various information, including details about employees working on contract basis in KCP.<br /><br />His application was rejected in May 2016 stating that KCP was not a public authority as per the provisions under the RTI Act.<br /><br />After hearing both the sides, the State Information Commissioner N P Ramesh held that KCP, a non-government organisation, is indeed a public authority since it is substantially funded by the state government.<br /><br />"The assistance is received for both capital expenditure like construction of buildings and also for revenue expenditures like salary grant. Further, the Commission observed that the government may not have any statutory control over the non government organisation, but still it is established that it has been substantially financed by the funds provided by the government and its other agencies. As such, the respondent (KCP) will fall within the scope of Section 2 (h) (d) (ii) of the RTI Act,'' the order stated.<br /><br /><br />The Commission directed KCP to appoint its general secretary as public information officer and also to comply with all the provisions of the RTI Act. KCP has also been directed to provide information sought by the applicant free of cost by speed post.<br /><br /><br />The Commission had directed KCP to submit the details of grants received and also the lease agreement entered into with the government. KCP however had submitted only the copies of the audited financial statements of three years, which reflected various funds from the state government both as salary grant and for construction of building.<br /><br /> </p>
<p>Karnataka Information Commission has declared Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (KCP) as public authority under the provisions of Right to Information Act.<br /><br />The Commission passed the order on August 9, on an appeal filed by a person who was denied information by the KCP.<br /><br />The appeal was filed by T Narasimha Murthy. He had filed eight applications under the RTI Act seeking various information, including details about employees working on contract basis in KCP.<br /><br />His application was rejected in May 2016 stating that KCP was not a public authority as per the provisions under the RTI Act.<br /><br />After hearing both the sides, the State Information Commissioner N P Ramesh held that KCP, a non-government organisation, is indeed a public authority since it is substantially funded by the state government.<br /><br />"The assistance is received for both capital expenditure like construction of buildings and also for revenue expenditures like salary grant. Further, the Commission observed that the government may not have any statutory control over the non government organisation, but still it is established that it has been substantially financed by the funds provided by the government and its other agencies. As such, the respondent (KCP) will fall within the scope of Section 2 (h) (d) (ii) of the RTI Act,'' the order stated.<br /><br /><br />The Commission directed KCP to appoint its general secretary as public information officer and also to comply with all the provisions of the RTI Act. KCP has also been directed to provide information sought by the applicant free of cost by speed post.<br /><br /><br />The Commission had directed KCP to submit the details of grants received and also the lease agreement entered into with the government. KCP however had submitted only the copies of the audited financial statements of three years, which reflected various funds from the state government both as salary grant and for construction of building.<br /><br /> </p>