Disclosure of Emotional Quotient of Ministers under the RTI Act
23 Apr, 2012After the assembly elections in December 2008 when the BJP retained power, a two day workshop was organised in February 2009 at Pachmarhi with a thrust on good governance. This programme was held jointly by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore and the School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis. As a part of the workshop, the management and psychology experts were roped in to give tips to the CM and his cabinet to boost efficiency. A test of the Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ) of the participants was done during the workshop.
An application was filed seeking details of the tests on ministers and their score card was refused by the public authority. On appeal, the State Information Commission passed an order on 9th March 2012 directing to reveal the reports on emotional intelligence of state's ministers under the Right to Information Act (RTI). The applicant has claimed that the School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis sent few papers by post, indicating the marks obtained but without mentioning the names of ministers concerned and the public authority is trying to evade the Information Commission order. The public authority has said that in order to maintain confidentiality, the training officer did not mention the names of ministers on the answer sheets and instead used serial number and secret code. The names of ministers concerned are not available in the records and the reports of the emotional intelligence test have been provided to the applicant.
Should the "Bhavnatmak Buddhi" of the ministers be made public?