This Article is From Feb 04, 2013

Mantralaya fire: Only ten per cent files reconstructed so far

Mumbai: Only ten per cent of the files which were destroyed in the fire that gutted the top floors of the Mantralaya on June 21, 2012, have been reconstructed so far.

This came to light following a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by activist Anil Galgali.

The fire had destroyed 63,349 files in the state secretariat. However, till date only 6,339 files have been reconstructed, which is only ten per cent, it said.

"It's the worst example of (the functioning of) government offices. Their attitude to deal with important issues is clearly shown. Now, the state officials from various departments are ignoring chief minister's order just like they do with the common man," Galgali said on the issue.

The three departments that suffered the maximum damage in terms of loss of files are Home, Industries, Energy and Labour as well as the General Administration (GAD) Home department lost 11,065 files in the blaze.

Similarly, Industries, Energy and Labour department's 12,454 files had been burnt and records in 19,719 files of GAD need to be recreated.

However, as per the reply to the RTI application, not a single file has been recreated by home department. Industry, energy and labour department has managed to make only 31 of its burnt records, while, GAD now has restored 717 of its 19,719 lost files.

Chief minister-headed Transport department, too, has not recreated a single file. 4,120 files of this department had got burnt in the inferno.

State Housing Department had suffered a loss of 229 files, of which 157 are now ready. Similarly, 104 files of the Law and Judiciary department, out of 133 lost files, have been remade, Galgali said.

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