Two Day Convention on RTI begins tomorrow

PIB : Sunday, September 12, 2010 :

The fifth Convention on RTI begins here tomorrow. The theme of the present convention is “RTI: Challenges & Opportunities”. The Central Information Commission has been organizing the Annual Convention every year since 2006. The Union Minister of Law & Justice Shri Veerappa Moily will inaugurate the Convention and the MOS for Communication & Information Technology Sh. Sachin Pilot will address the valedictory session. The key note address is being delivered by Sri Gopal Krishna Gandhi. The two day convention will have five technical sessions covering major aspects of Right to Information (RTI). The various sessions will deliberate on issues such as: RTI and Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects, Responsibility of Political Leadership in promoting RTI, RTI and Judiciary, Challenges and Opportunities in RTI – Role and Responsibility of Media/Civil Society Organisations, RTI and Unique Identification Project- Possibilities.

The present convention is being attended by representatives of Civil Society and media both from within the country and from SAARC countries. The two day deliberations are expected to produce documents of contemporary as well as long term relevance to South Asia. Technical Sessions are being chaired by Shri A N Tiwari, IC, CIC, Shri Jaswant Singh, MP, Lok Sabha, Shri Wajahat Habibullah, Chief IC, CIC and Ms Mrinal Pandey, Chairperson, Prasar Bharti.

On the occasion of this convention a monograph is also being released. This monograph sets out the experiences of stakeholder from all sections in regard to the implementation of the Right to Information legislation in the last five years. The “Resonance of Information” was first of its kind brought on the occasion of National Convention on RTI in 2006 and the present monograph the second in series. The monograph documents the report and recommendations of two of the conventions of this Commission.

Five years of implementation of RTI Act brought forth many issues both of challenges and opportunities. The Commission desired to discuss those opportunities and challenges at great length. The theme has thus been so decided. The deliberations of each of the technical sessions are aimed at bringing about the insight on the current issues of the Act and its mapping to the theory and practices of the Right to information in regard to two emerging aspects of public governance, the Public Private Partnership and the UIDIA.

The Central Information Commission has strength of 9 Information Commissioners including the Chief Information Commissioner. In recent times the Commission has made a significant impact regarding disclosure of information in various areas of governance