Railways to handle RTI applications online

By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Monday, October 26, 2009

The new system will save money and time for railways while applicants Come 2010,will be able to check status of their cases online

the Ahmedabad railway division will handle RTI cases online to cut cost and time wasted in responding to queries of applicants at present. The initiative is aimed at bringing transparency in the process as well
Under the new system, railway authorities will scan RTI applications and forward them to departments concerned online instead of sending them through snail mail.
The new process will reduce the average response time to RTI queries and help railways save money it spends on postage.
A senior officer of the Ahmedabad railway division said: “Once the new system is introduced, people seeking information under RTI from any department or zone of railways will just have to submit their applications at the RTI cell at the divisional headquarters here.
The officer at the RTI cell will scan them and send them to departments or zones concerned online in a jiffy.” Sources said a web-based software has been developed to link all the departments and zones of railways.
“Once the integration process is over, we will handle all RTI cases online. The new system, likely to be introduced within three months, will be double bonanza for us. First, we will be able to respond to queries fast and well within deadline. This will ensure we don’t have to pay penalty to applicants for missing deadline. Second, we won’t have to spend on postage,” said the senior railway official.
The new system will be a boon to RTI applicants as well. They will be able to check status of their cases by logging on to the RTI site of railways (http://rti.railnet.gov.in) and typing their names, addresses and numbers of postal orders or drafts attached to their respective applications.
“This will help RTI applicants know if replies sought in applications have been sent to them or still under process. It will also show when replies are expected to reach them,” said the senior officer, adding that all RTI queries would be posted online under the new system. A workshop on online RTI system was conducted in Mumbai last Friday. ADRM RN Prasad, ACM Darshit Priyadarshi and senior commercial inspector Anil Mishra represented the Ahmedabad division in the workshop.
The Ahmedabad railway division received 2,250 RTI applications in the past four years. At present, railway authorities respond to RTI queries in 20-25 days. After the system goes online, they will be able to revert to applicants within a fortnight, said an officer in the commercial department of Ahmedabad railway division.
(www.ahmedabadmirror.com)

TUC calls on Government to expedite action for the passage of a Right to Information Law in Ghana

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has reiterated its call on Government to expedite action on the process towards the passage of the Right to Information Bill into law.

A statement by the Secretary-General , Kofi Asamoah said the passage of the bill into law will consolidate democracy in Ghana by providing effective institutional mechanism for informed citizenry, public accountability, and the battle against corruption.
It said good governance requires people’s participation in national decision-making, beyond general elections.
The statement noted that effective participation in decision-making demands the availability of relevant information to stakeholders without hindrances.
It therefore called on government to make public its road-map for the passage of the Right to Information Bill into law in accordance with its declared commitment towards transparency in government and to further enhance Ghana’s democratic practice.
The TUC also re-affirmed its continued participation in and support for the Ghana Right to Information Coalition and further urged all stakeholders to re-dedicate themselves to the campaign for the passage of a Right to Information Law in Ghana.

Children toil away despite ban

TNN 10 October 2009, 07:56pm IST
VARANASI: On Saturday, the notification issued by the labour ministry of the Government of India for barring employment of below-14-year-old children at homes, dhabas and hotels became three years old. But, the voluntary organisations do not see any positive change in the scenario so far.
In view of the same facts, the Campaign Against Child Labour and Campaign Against Child Trafficking have decided to conduct a state-level social audit of the ground realities. State convener of CACL Rajnikant said recently a national social audit was conducted in New Delhi. He said the notification was issued by the labour ministry on October 10, 2006. He held it unfortunate that despite completing its third year, the notification of labour ministry could not bring about a desired change. He said lakhs of children could still be found engaged as domestic servants, light carriers in marriage processions and at dhabas and hotels.
He said Varanasi could be seen as the hub of child labourers in that regard. He said not only at dhabas, hotels and houses, but hundreds of children could also be seen engaged in beggary on the ghats and at railway stations. He said despite the fact that a greater number of adults were unemployed, people employ kids to secure cheap labour.
He said UP had the highest number of child labourers as the children could be found working in all the industrial zones of Moradabad, Kanpur, Firozabad, Meerut, Kannoj, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Allahabad. He claimed the number of child labourers was about nine lakh in the state and a majority of them were still deprived of compulsory and free education.
He said CACL and CACT would launch a statewide campaign and hold a social audit at state-level for preparing a detailed report for forwarding it to the Union Government and Parliament through their central unit. He said Right to Information Act would also be utilised to fix the accountability of government

MSU syndicate meet adjourned twice over registrar issue

TNN 12 October 2009, 09:43pm IST
VADODARA: It was expected that syndicate members from MS University would chart out a plan to honour their former student and recipient of Nobel prize in chemistry professor Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, at a meeting on Monday. Instead, they were busy quarrelling over petty and routine issues with no discussion taking place on Venkatraman.
The meeting, as usual, turned stormy and was adjourned twice during the day with a section of syndicate members opposing vice-chancellor Ramesh Goyal's decision stripping registrar AV Gupta of his powers. They argued that Goyal cannot take decision on the basis of right to information (RTI) Act. They also wanted Gupta to be present at the meeting to present his case.
After much discussion, majority of syndicate members turned down Goyal's decision on taking Gupta's powers. Instead, they have suggested formation of a three-member committee comprising of Rajendra Trivedi, Tushar Vyas and Jigar Inammdar to look into the matter. A section of syndicate members also asked Goyal to explain his decision taken against Gupta, but his explanation was termed as false and incomplete. They, therefore, pressed that Goyal's decision be quashed completely. Goyal along with four syndicate members have registered their dissent over this decision.
The other issue that saw major disagreement among syndicate members was that of retired professor Dr Vishnuprasad Chaturvedi from Hindi department in arts faculty. Chaturvedi was due for a promotion under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS), but was denied the same by the selection committee. He then approached the tribunal that pronounced the decision in Chaturvedi's favour. The tribunal has asked the syndicate to take the decision within 60 days after the judgment and promote Chaturvedi. The court has also questioned Goyal for not taking a call on this issue and abstaining from using the emergency power bestowed to him. Majority of syndicate member were against the idea of promoting him with no amicable outcome coming out of the discussion.
Till late evening, only seven items out of 18 were discussed by the syndicate and the meeting was expected to continue till late night.

School dropout is watchdog of public funds

Vijaysinh Parmar , TNN 13 October 2009, 09:41pm IST
DHAVADIA (AMRELI): Education is not necessary for empowerment, as many success stories related to the Right to Information (RTI) Act have shown.
Take the case of school dropout Dilip Kataria, 31, from Dhavadia village in Khambha taluka of Amreli district. This spunky villager is doing his bit to ensure that public money is not misused in his village, but utilised for the government schemes it's meant for.
Kataria, who works as an electrician earning daily wages, has filed as many as 1,000 RTI applications in various government departments. They have been mostly related to basic civic amenities like roads and water, and irrigation facilities.
One of them revealed mismanagement of public money in a sanitation project, part of an eco-development plan, in 2006. A pipeline had to be laid two feet under the surface so that it wouldn't cause environmental damage. But, guidelines were not followed by the panchayat. "The state government investigated the matter after I filed the application. Two persons were found guilty and forest officials filed a police complaint against them in Khambha police station in 2008. After that, the rest of the work was done properly, ''says Kataria.
It was difficult to fight against his own people in the village, he says. "There has always been social pressure, but I have remained firm."
In 2007, there was a major problem with the mid-day meal programme across the taluka. "In my village, schoolchildren were given meals only thrice a week and the menu was not followed. I furnished the details under RTI," he says.
As a result, a co-ordinator was transferred and now the children are getting food as per government guidelines. "We have also circulated the mid-day meal guidelines to villagers so that they can check in their villages,'' he adds.
Interestingly, Kataria mainly seeks government notifications. "Generally, people don't know about such things. I use RTI and get them and circulate them among the people. This has helped a lot to create awareness," says Kataria.
He is a member of Khambha-based Mahiti Adhikar Nagarik Mandal, an organization that creates awareness about the RTI Act.

PMC moves towards administrative reform

Snehal Sonawane Sawant, TNN 19 October 2009, 05:16am IST
PUNE: The civic administration system is in for a major rehaul. Now, citizens who lament that the files in PMC offices take ages to move and that their complaints are rarely addressed, may soon have a different story to tell. Taking the cue from the corporate way of assessing employee performance, the Pune Municipal Corporation will now have a system wherein the work flow of every employee will tracked. Not only is the move aimed at increasing the efficiency of officials, but also at building the image of the PMC.
Speaking to TOI, additional commissioner M S Devnikar said that work on bringing about "administrative reform" began around two months ago. "Multi-pronged measures are being taken to bring about changes at all levels. It is called the Rajiv Gandhi Prashasan Gatimanta Abhiyan'. We decided to go ahead with this project when we felt that officials were involved in multifarious duties, but it was difficult to track the progress of all their responsibilities. Additional work is allocated to them and their attention is diverted from their regular duties. Hence, the idea to have a regular monitoring system (RMS) was proposed. The software will be ready for use in a few weeks," Devnikar said.
Citing an example, Devnikar said that every department receives complaints from citizens or Right to Information (RTI) applications. "Data for each department in terms of how many complaints have been received and when will be compiled. When the complaints are redressed, it will be reflected in the system. This way, the official or his senior will be able to monitor the progress being made in disposing of complaints and which officer has been most efficient in doing so," Devnikar said.
He added that there will be a complete check and control of all issues dealt with at the PMC.
Deputy commissioner K C Karkar, who has been given charge of the project, states that as many as 900 subjects are being included in the system to include the purview of all departments of the PMC.
"The system will be simple to use and access. Performance can be reviewed monthly or weekly, as need be. The subject for each department will take into account all kinds of work the department is involved in and is expected to do. The municipal commissioner will also be able to see at one glance what progress has been made in a particular file. He will know which department has been most efficient and where a push is needed. Moreover, nobody will be able to point a finger at another department. The system will clearly show where a file is stuck and how many days it has been lying there," Karkar said.
Devnikar explained that efforts are being made to improve the working of citizen facilitation centres (CFC). "CFCs are currently dealing with accepting tax bills or providing birth or death certificates. There have been some complaints about their functioning. We held a couple of meetings regarding this and have given the vendor till November 1 to bring about improvements. After that, citizens will be able to register their complaints at these kiosks," Devnikar said.

Access to info a fundamental right: HC

TNN 20 October 2009, 05:25am IST
CHENNAI: Access to information is a fundamental right recognized by the Constitution, and the public authority must interpret the Right To Information (RTI) Act 2005, liberally, the Madras high court has said.
A ruling to this effect was passed by Justice MM Sundaresh recently, while passing orders on the writ petitions of three candidates seeking copies of their answer sheets besides the marksheets of all candidates short-listed for motor vehicle inspector posts by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC).
The petitioners sought the details on the ground that a fair process was not adopted by the authorities during selection. The TNPSC, however, rejected the plea stating that no candidate would be permitted to scrutinize answer sheets. The internal mechanism of valuation cannot be revealed to public scrutiny, it said.
KM Vijayan, senior counsel for the candidates, assailed the denial of information stating that the right given under the RTI Act cannot be taken away by the TNPSC instructions.
Justice Sundaresh, while refusing to forbear the TNPSC from going ahead with the selection process, said the TNPSC must furnish the details as sought for by the petitioners within six weeks of declaration of final results. He also pointed out that the petitioners wanted only the marksheets of other candidates and not the answer sheets of all the candidates.
Observing that right to information was the pillar of a transparent democracy, Justice Sundaresh said the exemption under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act spoke only about commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property. "By no stretch of imagination could the said clause be made applicable here, since the petitioners want their own documents," he said, adding that as the TNPSC and the home secretary derived their independent powers from Article 320 of the Constitution they will have to conform to the principle of transparency, accountability and fair play.
He said right to information was a part of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, and added, "disclosure of information by public authority is a rule and secrecy is exemption."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Access-to-info-a-fundamental-right-HC/articleshow/5140060.cms

Gujarat not among top RTI-compliant states

Express News Service Posted online:

Thursday , Oct 22, 2009 at 0241 hrs
Ahmedabad : Gujarat does not figure in the list of top Right to Information (RTI) compliance states as per the study conducted by the National RTI Awards Secretariat, a non-governmental initiative by the Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF).
Karnataka has topsped the list. The study was based on the feedback of 6,000 of nearly 35,000 respondents and analysis of decisions of various information commissions.
RTI experts in Gujarat say that the state commission is overburdened, and many times, the single appeal mechanism does not work. This has resulted in the performance of RTI as well as the satisfaction of the appeal in the state.
“The state commission is overburdened and has only one commissioner. That is the reason why the state has not been able to do well,” said Harinesh Pandya of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP).
In 2008, Gujarat had ordered a total of 1,033 cases to be disclosed and denied complete information in 182 cases.
“Gujarat needs at least two commissioners in order to handle the backlog of cases. Goa, which is comparatively a smaller state, has three commissioners,” said Pandya. The state
Information Commissioner R N Das was not available for comments on the state commission’s performance.
Four key metrics of the study were overall public satisfaction, effectiveness, deterrent impact, and pro-disclosure factor.
There are a total of 28 information commissions — one in each state and one at the Centre — with 94 information commissioners and several joint benches.

Four years on, RTI backlog piles up

Syed Khalique Ahmed Posted online:

Monday , Oct 26, 2009 at 0006 hrs
Ahmedabad : With the Gujarat government not filling up the posts of two information commissioners in the State Information Commission for the last two years, the number of applications is only piling up. And the people seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act have been at the receiving end.
While the one-man commission headed by State Chief Information Commissioner R N Das has been able to dispose of a little over 5,000 cases, there is still a backlog of about 6,000 applications.
Although Das has been clearing about 350 cases a month
on an average, high inflow of cases from across the state are further adding to the backlog. According to Das, the commission has been receiving, on an average, 250 to 300 new applications every month.
“The huge inflow of cases is a good sign of awareness among the people of the state and their faith in RTI. This is despite the fact that it takes a long time to take up their cases due to the lack of hands in the commission,” said Das, adding, “It is also a fact that the commission is getting overburdened with this”.
In fact, the State Information Commission has been working as a one-man commission ever since it began operating on October 13, 2005. Even states much smaller than Gujarat, like Goa, with a total population of just 13 lakhs, have two information commissioners; Haryana has seven, Arunachal Pradesh eight and Punjab has 11.
“It is highly illogical to have a one-man information commission in Gujarat when its population exceeds 5.5 crore and a large number of RTI applications
are filed every month,” said Pankti Jog, coordinator of the Mahiti
Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), an NGO working in the field of Right to Information.
She said a person could not hear over 15 to 20 cases a day and hence, it might take years to clear the backlog with regular inflow of new cases.
According to an official in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the government had two year’s ago sanctioned two more posts of information commissioner and made an annual budget for it. But the posts are yet to be filled up.
He said selection of the candidates had to be done by a committee headed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi with two members, including Leader of the Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil and State Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel.
When asked about the initiative taken by the committee in this regard, Gohil said it did not meet even once in the last two years. He said that he wrote
to the CM about it and also raised the issue in the budget session of the Assembly in July, but nothing was done.
According to MAGP, most of the RTI queries come from farmers. An analysis of the applications done by MAGP shows that farmers accounted for 16 per cent of the RTI queries specially about land issues, followed by teachers (11 per cent), small traders and businessmen (seven per cent), disabled persons(seven per cent) and daily wage workers (four per cent).

To own a house in Ahmedabad would have been a dream to Ramsingbhai without RTI

To own a house in Ahmedabad would have been a dream to Ramsingbhai without RTI. Ramsingbhai, resident of Ahmedabad had applied for the benefit of ‘free Housing Plot scheme’ of the government for urban poor.
It was almost a year, Ramsingbhiai didn’t know whether he was allotted a plot or his application was rejected & what was the reason. He once heard about RTI helpline - 992408500 and called up requesting for a help. RTI helpline volunteer informed his that using RTI he will get to know the status of his application.
Ramsingbhai didn’t know to draft application and appeared on Saturday Legal Clinic run by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel. Mrs. Sadhana, Volunteer Legal Clinic volunteer, helped him in drafting his application asking for detailed list of people to whom such housing plots were allotted and what was the procedure, and also status of his application. When Ramsingh received the list, he was surprise to see his name in the list. As per requirement, a person has to pay token amount of Rs.500/- towards the plot to get the housing plot allotment letter. He found that very few from the list have actually paid the amount.
“This may be because, people did not get letter from the authority about their selection for the housing plot scheme and they are unaware of the fact that we have to pay token amount to claim the benefit. As I got this information under RTI, I paid my amount immediately. I am giving this information to others now. Government should publish such list widely”.
Ramsingbhai is very happy that he got information on time which enabled him to claim his plot. With plot in his hand, Ramsingbhai’s dream of having his own house in Ahmedabad will come true.
Case Study documented by MAGP Volunteer

Gujarat Information Commission an overburdened body

The State Information Commission in Gujarat has not been able to look at any new complaint since July.
All the new files are packed into shelves in one corner of the Commission's office in Gandhinagar, the administrative capital of Gujarat.
While the Commission received 9,667 cases till July from October 2005, when it started work, just 4,990, a little more than 51 per cent, were disposed of.
Since October 2005, when the Right to Information (RTI) Act came into existence on October 13, only the chief information commissioner is there to handle cases in a state of 55 million people.
This state government has not appointed two more commissioners, which it itself sanctioned two years ago.
"It is a burden (on a single person). But what can I do? The government sanctioned the posts of two more commissioners but they are not filled till now. (Instead of letting the files stagnate), I am trying my best to clear the complaints," State Chief Information Commissioner RN Das told Hindustan Times.
Das, who was earlier Union Secretary of Food and Public Distribution, took charge in July 2006 and is managing the Commission single- handedly, hearing up to 20 cases a day.
His predecessor, PK Das, who retired in May 2006, was similarly overburdened.
A selection committee (to decide the appointment of commissioners) under Chief Minister Narendra Modi, which includes the leader of the opposition, Shakti Sinh Gohil, and a state cabinet minister, did not meet even once in the past two years.
RTI activists say that complainants have to wait for more than a year to get a hearing.
"Our RTI helpline data show that some citizens have to wait for 1.2 years for the second appeal hearing. The Commission (operating with one person) cannot be blamed for this. For a population of 5.5 crore (55 million), there should be at least five to six information commissioners. Neither the chief minister nor the opposition leader seems to be interested in filling the posts," said Pankti Jog, co-ordinator, Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), an initiative to strengthen the right to information.
"We are aware of the pending cases but the chief minister is not interested in calling a meeting of the committee. When we did not meet in the past two years, how can we select anyone?" Gohil asked.
"I do not have the details … I need to check (as to why the committee did not meet)," a senior official in the chief minister's office said.
With cases piling up, Das, who was also director, enforcement directorate, is left with no option but to concentrate on older cases rather than look into the new ones.
The Commission was able to dispose of 762 cases in the past three months.
Though RN Das has expressed satisfaction with the response of government officials to RTI queries, awareness efforts initiated and budget allocation, it remains a puzzle why the government is appointing the two commissioners.
More about RTI
1. Right to Information Act, 2005, is a landmark Act, empowering people to know how she/he and fellow citizens are governed by the state.
2. October 13 marks the completion of four years of RTI
3. Awareness about the RTI, according to the Commission and activists, is very high in the state. Analysis of queries received on the RTI helpline run by MAGP (from May 2006 to October 2009) shows that 15 per cent of the queries are from farmers, followed by teachers (11 per cent), small entrepreneurs (7 per cent), disabled (7 per cent) and social workers (7 per cent) to daily wage earners (4 per cent). Twelve per cent of the calls are from the public information officers, who are supposed to provide the information.
4. "The people are Gujarat are demanding in their complaints and are keen on being heard and their grievances redressed. The Commission with the same spirit is receiving their complaints also," RN Das, state chief information commissioner, said.
5. The RTI Act 2005 provides for one chief information commissioner and ten information commissioners. While Punjab has a chief information commissioner and nine commissioners, Goa, a small state, has two commissioners.
Some SIC decisions:
1. Ordered that annual confidential reports of government servants be made available to the public.
2. Upheld the plea of secondary education students who wanted access to their answer sheets in examinations. Decision stayed by Gujarat High Court.
3. Ruled that cooperative societies and banks fall under the category of public bodies, a decision again challenged in court.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/464699.aspx

'RTI needs to tilt towards citizens'

Paul John, TNN 7 October 2009, 04:51am IST
AHMEDABAD: The basic purpose of Right To Information (RTI) in the state, which is to bring transparency in government functioning, would be defeated if government departments do not proactively disclose information that affects the way of life of a citizen right from names of beneficiaries in the Antodaya scheme, holders of job cards under NREGA, tribal sub-plan benefits, health schemes and education.

As the RTI completes four years this year in Gujarat, members from civil society groups, the administrative reforms and training division, citizens and state information commission agreed that unless the Act tilts in favour of the citizen, it would soon be paralysed.

They deliberated on a number of issues related to RTI at a workshop at SPIPA on Tuesday.

"Today, the mode of accepting the RTI application fee of Rs 20 is considered one of the main hurdles for citizens. Today, if a taluka or a panchayat office do not have receipt books to accept the fee, citizens get discouraged. Besides, there should be alternative modes of payment like judicial stamps and postal orders. We have to look at the convenience of the citizen. Only then will he participate in democratic functions of society," said state chief information commissioner RN Das.

Activist Harinesh Pandya reiterated the need to sensitize government officials towards RTI. "Every RTI application is like the face of a citizen talking to a public information officer (PIO). Today, the pendency of cases at the commission up to a year and in most cases RTI replies being delayed by a fortnight by PIOs and subsequent delays in hearing appeals can kill the novel purpose of this Act."

PIOs from various departments also pointed towards applicants misusing their below poverty line (BPL) cards for RTI replies for free. "Generally, heaps of information is demanded for free under the BPL card scheme. These applications are filed to harass government officers," said an officer from the agriculture department, Paresh Zalavadia.

Members from the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pehel (MAGP) volunteered that in case an officer feels harassed, he can approach them on the RTI helpline. "MAGP will approach such applicants individually and in case the applicant does not heed to the requests, MAGP will file a complaint against such individuals," said MAGP member Pandya.

Coastal security cited for not disclosing information on Essar under RTI

The next time you file an appeal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to know the status of a piece of land near a coastal area, chances are that the Public Information Officer (PIO) may cite coastal security as the reason for not providing information.

The Mumbai terror attack could be a plausible reason for PIOs withholding information in this regard.

Pankti Jog, an activist with the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pehal had filed an RTI application to know whether environmental clearances were granted to Essar Group for its company Essar Bulk Terminal Ltd in Salaya Creek near Salya village in Madhna of Jamnagar district.

But Hardik Shah, PIO, Forest and Environment Department, Gandhinagar, withheld the information saying it came under Section 8 of the Act and could not be disclosed.

Jog said: "The marine national park is located near the land allocated to Essar Group. I filed an appeal in public interest and they cannot deny the information. Earlier, a two-member committee had opposed the land allocation to Essar, while the second committee had allowed the land allocation."

Incidentally, the Essar Group had submitted that the "information sought by Pankti Jog are in fact official secrets and require to be zealously guarded in view of the fact that the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai were due to sensitive information being available to terrorists from undisclosed sources apart from serious lapses in coastal security arrangements. We apprehend that the information sought by her, which include coastal maps and other details, could land in the hands of terrorists and thereby compromise the security of the nation".

Jog had sought information pertaining to the committee, including a copy of the report submitted for the use of forest land by Essar Bulk Terminal Ltd in Jamnagar.

The RTI application had also asked for a certified copy of the communication received from the Ministry of Environment and Forest with the Director (Environment) regarding Coastal Regulation Zone Clearance for the proposed jetties and seawater intake and effluent release facility of the thermal power project of Essar in Salaya Creek. It also asked for the certified copy of the study reports done by the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, on Marine Environment Management and Strategies for Gulf of Kutch, on April 28, 2009.

NGOs, govt, to spread RTI message

Paul John & Kumar Manish, TNN 4 October 2009, 03:16am IST
AHMEDABAD: For the first time without confronting each other, members of civil society groups and government agencies would jointly celebrate four years of implementation of Right To Information (RTI) act in the state. The event is being pepped up with traditional art forms of puppet shows, streetplays and community sheri garbas to convey the importance of the law.

Harinesh Pandya of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, a member partner of the festival, said, "The whole RTI campaign will focus on proactive disclosure by government organizations under RTI and mass sensitisation programme for all the stockholders in RTI."

"The campaign will address technical problems faced while filing RTI applications and proactive disclosures by government departments," says Pandya. The RTI Act came into force on October 12, 2005.

In the city, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has designed an elaborate programme to celebrate RTI in a big way between October 5 to October 12. The focus would be reaching out to masses and also training officers of various wards.

Deputy municipal commissioner, AMC, MS Patel said, "We would encourage and inform people about the RTI act in our campaign." "We will be conducting a lot of interactive sessions including a mini workshop on RTI where AMC employees including some representatives from general public will be trained in the modalities of RTI Act", he says.

In other parts of Gujarat a multi-stakeholders RTI consultation programme will be held in Panchmahal district. For the first time members from Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative CHRI, and NGOs like Anandi, MAGP would partner with district officials like the DDO, district education office and Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration in propagating the RTI message among rural population and the importance of proactive disclosures amongst government institutions.

Vapi collector's office will hold a day's training programme for its own officers.