Lucknow University asks RTI applications to furnish citizenship proof
RTI applicants in Lucknow University have been asked to furnish citizenship proof. According to reports, the Lucknow University (LU) refused to provide the information sought by the people who filed the Right to Information (RTI) unless they furnished the proof that they were Indian citizens. The development comes amid anti-CAA protests across the nation.
According to one of the RTI applicants Alok Chantia, he was refused information by the varsity, said that he had lodged a complaint with the vice-chancellor of the varsity but even then he could not get the desired information.
"It is shocking how the university has twisted the RTI law as per its whims and fancy. It does not have any authority to do so," said the RTI applicant.
Chantia, also a faculty member at a degree college here, had sought details of the appointment of teachers for self-financed courses and their pay scale.
"It is possible that some applicants who may not be familiar with the provisions of the RTI, may have furnished proof of their citizenship to the varsity to get the information but that cannot become a rule," he pointed out.
When contacted, university officials admitted that such a practice had been going on in the varsity for the past few years.
"This practice started during the tenure of the former vice-chancellor S.P. Singh and still continues," said a senior varsity official.
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