The Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) of Odisha has directed the state’s Public Service Commission (OPSC) to provide a candidate who was not selected for an assistant teacher position in 2022 with her interview marks.
The order from the SCIC follows a petition filed by Minati Rani Mohapatra of Bhadrak district, who had applied for the post of assistant teacher in history, according to a statement from the Commission on Monday.
The selection process, as per the recruitment advertisement, was based on career marks and interview marks. After she did not find her name in the list of selected candidates published by the OPSC in June 2022, she filed an RTI application in December of that year with the Odisha PSC, requesting details of her marks from both the career assessment and the interview.
The PSC provided her with her career marks but refused to disclose her interview marks, stating that as per panel’s policy, interview marks are not shares with the candidates, according to the commission’s statement.
In his judgment, SCIC Manoj Parida stated that the OPSC’s decision was contrary to the provisions of the RTI Act. The Commission noted that the candidate has the right to know her interview score so she can improve her performance in future attempts.
“Every candidate, particularly the candidates who have failed the test, has a right to know why they could not succeed. The OPSC cannot keep the candidates in the dark,” it said.
Parida has stated that Section 22 of the RTI Act, 2005, supersedes all other Acts and Rules when it comes to providing information to applicants. He has therefore asked the OPSC to change its procedure and provide candidates with details about their scores.
