Missing Files Reveal Missing Law: 66 Years On, No Official Records Act In Madhya Pradesh

A man in Madhya Pradesh has run three rounds of red tape in three years to find a caste certificate, but the government has lost all of it — including the application he filed under the Right to Information Act to get some clarity. And this has dug up a problem that goes back decades. 

Sixty-six years after Madhya Pradesh became a state, the state does not have a Public Records Act. The Centre and several other states have already enacted laws on how to handle official records. 

As for the man looking for his certificate, his case reached the State Information Commissioner which has levied a penalty of Rs 58,000 on three sub-divisional magistrates and instructed the District Collector of Satna to start an inquiry. 

Going further, Information Commissioner Rahul Singh also asked the government to start the process to have a law in place.  

For now, he has asked for guidelines based on the Centre's Public Records Act 1993 with strong provisions such as five years of jail for delinquent officials. He has sought a compliance report from the General Administration Department by January 23. 

When accountability is fixed — if at all — it's done under the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services Rules. 

The commissioner stressed that absence of any legal framework for management of records is the reason for the officers' “callous and apathetic approach”. 

Cases of missing records — particularly in cases of questionable decisions — keep showing up at the information commission.  

“There have been several cases in which documents appeared after the authorities were ordered to file a police report,” Rahul Singh said.