Furnish as much as info as possible to avoid RTI queries: Activist

Times of India: Navi Mumbai: Sunday, April 06, 2014.

RTI activists are now looking for ways to preserve the dignity of the act that was even praised by the US President Barack Obama, to ensure transparency in government offices.

The recent incident of a journalist being arrested while trying to extort money from the cess department by threatening to publish information over alleged irregularities in LBT collection has shaken up activists and has sent the civic body into action. The journalist had documents procured through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

According to activists, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) can take recourse to proactive disclosure under section 4 (1) (b) of RTI Act, 2005, to prevent bogus queries and unnecessary harassment.

"Most RTI activists seek information for public interest. The information is used to rectify errors in the system. However, NMMC can prevent such stray cases that misuse the Act by implementing section 4 under the proactive disclosure of information," said Vashi resident and activist Ajay Marathe.

Under this section, explained Marathe, there are 16 categories under which the public authority can publish as much information as they can provide about their departments so that the need for RTI is minimized.

"Some of the sections include particulars of the organization, its functions and duties, procedures to be followed in the decision-making process. This is termed as suo moto information. So the easiest way for NMMC to check such untoward incidents is by regularly updating its website with all relevant details," added Marathe.

RTI activist Sandeep Thakur agreed and said that the civic body should voluntarily furnish information to eliminate any pressure tactics.

"Why should NMMC hide facts from the public domain if everything is happening as per norms? So information on contracts or new projects can be provided to put an end to irrelevant RTIs getting filed. Alternatively, interested party can be allowed to scrutinize documents personally to their satisfaction so that multiple requests on the same issue are not submitted," added Thakur.