Judges, RTI activists praise Madabhushi’s book on RTI

The Hans India: New Delhi: Friday, 31 July 2015.

Prof Madabhushi Sridhar Acharyulu's book titled "A Decade of RTI–A long way to Go" came in for high praise at its release function by the RTI activist-luminaries and Judicial personalities here on Thursday.Supreme Court Judge, Justice Chalameshwar, explained how difficult earlier it was to extract information from the government departments as everything used to be termed as ‘strictly confidential’.

Thanks to the law makers, it was no more the case and the book released by Prof Madabhusi Sridhar to mark the 10th anniversary of the RTI Act existence should be a reason for celebration as it contained wealth of information, he said. Former Chief Information Commissioner of India Wajahat Habibullah said the book was an excellent guide on how the Act could progress further.

It has selective but great wealth of information useful not only for the public but also for the members and staff of the CIC and the State Information Commissions, he said. Habibullah further said the book could be promoted in other countries too to help them evolve better RTI methods and asked all members of the Information Commissions to make this a handbook.

Chairman of the Tax Bar Association R K Jain said that the first seven years of the Act saw government support and encouragement but of late it had dwindled. The RTI Act helped bridge the gap between public and government and also in removing corruption from the society, he said. It was not a burden on governance, Jain added.

Chief Information Commissioner Vijay Sharma termed the book a lighthouse to guide the RTI movement in the country because of its lucidity, content and spread. Renowned RTI activist Subhash Agarwal said the book could lead the protagonists of the movement in a better way. Every citizen for a better society must read it, he said.

CMS chairman Bhaskar Rao said the release of the book was a tribute to the 10th anniversary of the RTI Act. Transparency Review of the CMS was also released by the CIC Vijay Sharma on the occasion.