The New Indian Express: Hyderabad: Saturday, 26 July
2014.
Stating that
there is a lot of confusion over the existing AP State Information Commission
(APSIC), members of United Forum for RTI Campaign (UFRTI) said that AP
Reorganization Act 2014 is silent on the status of the commission. The members
also demanded Telangana state government to establish its own Information
Commission.
“While many
other commissions found place in the 10th schedule of the AP Reorganization
Act, APSIC was not mentioned. The commission also realized this very late and
took up the issue with Union Home Ministry and also both the state
governments”, as per a press note, adding the Union Home Ministry is least
interested.
The members
of the forum, which includes B Ramakrishnam Raju, D Rakesh Reddy, Sandeep
Panday and others, also demanded the Telangana government allocation of
dedicated budget for training & publicity of the act and that it must be
ensured that every official who is discharging the role of a PIO/APIO should
undergo a comprehensive training.
“Civil
Society, in general, and RTI activists, in particular, should be involved in
oversight committees looking into the implementation of the RTI Act at both the
state and district level. A high level committee on the lines of the previous
AP government should be constituted under the chairmanship of chief secretary
and members of civil society should be included in the same. The
committee’s recommendations should be
taken seriously and be implemented in a time bound manner”, included the
demands.
.JPG)
.JPG)
