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PMO makes salaries public under RTI
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office may have been two years late to implement the right to information law. But it is leading by example.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office may have been two years late to implement the right to information law. But it is leading by example.
Modi’s office has put out monthly salary of all PMO officials on its website, information that is mandated to be in public domain under the right to information law. It is a small step but most public bodies, including the transparency watchdog, Central Information Commission and the cabinet secretariat, circumvent this provision. Instead of giving the salary breakup, bodies such as the CIC and cabinet secretariat only make public the pay scales of the officials. It is not just a violation of the law but doesn’t make sense to people who are not familiar with the salary break-up.
“When the Constitution and the law mentions salary and perks of the President and Supreme Court judges, why should the CIC and cabinet secretariat opt for a lower standard,” asked RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak who had dragged the PMO to the CIC for going slow on proactive disclosures.
According to the PMO list, the highest paid official in June was an additional secretary-rank official Bhaskar Khulbe who had a monthly salary of Rs 2 lakh.
Modi’s principal secretary Nripendra Mishra, additional principal secretary PK Mishra and national security adviser Ajit Doval – all of them higher than Khulbe in the pecking order – get Rs 1.6 lakh.
The PMO has also promised to put out tour details of its officials soon.
The Manmohan Singh-led PMO also had initially gone an extra mile to be transparent but the enthusiasm soon petered out.
