When Madhya Pradesh-based Right To Information (RTI) activist, Dharmendra Shukla had filed RTI plea in connection to the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, little did he know that he has to keep his sports utility vehicle (SUV) ready to carry the reply for his plea. Shukla eventually got astonished to witness the reply in a pile of papers. 

Yes, in an eccentric fashion, Shukla got 40,000-page answer to his RTI plea and he ferried those papers in his car. Nevertheless, he got a respite that he wasn't asked to pay the stipulated cost Rs 2 per page of reply since he didn't get the answer within a month. After getting the reply, he packed the 40,000 pages of answers in his car and he said that his car was completely filled with the papers and only the driver's seat remained free. 

Last Saturday, Shukla said, "I had submitted an RTI plea with the Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Indore seeking details of tenders and bill payments connected to the procurement of medicines, equipment, and allied materials during the COVID-19 pandemic period." 

As per the rule, an RTI plea should be responded in a month. But, in Shukla's case, he didn't receive the reply within one month after which he had approached the first appellate officer Dr Sharad Gupta. Gupta had accepted Shukla's plea and directed the concerned officials that he should be given the required information free of cost. 

After knowing that he had a 40,000-page reply, Shukla said, "I took my SUV to ferry the documents and the entire vehicle got packed. Only the driver's seat remained free." According to PTI, appellate officer Sharad Gupta said that he had ordered that the information should be given free of cost and he also directed the CMHO to take appropriate action against the concerned officials for not giving the reply in a month due to which the state treasury incurred the loss of Rs 80,000.