RTI replies should be timely, transparent, trouble-free: PM

Daily Excelsior: New Delhi: Saturday, 17 October 2015.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked Government departments to keep in mind three ‘T’s timeliness, transparency and trouble-free approach while replying to RTI applications as that would help in reducing errors in governance.

Addressing the inaugural session of 10th convention of Central Information Commission, the Prime Minister said, more openness in governance will certainly help citizens.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh were the guests of honour on the occasion.

Narendra Modi described the “Right To Information” Act as a tool through which the common man has got not just the right to know, but also the right to question those in power. he mentioned the auctions of coal blocks, spectrum and FM radio licenses, and said that information should be given out proactively to people.

Prime Minister said, RTI has become a tool for good governance. He also described how the PRAGATI platform developed in the PMO has become a vibrant platform for monitoring progress of projects.

“RTI replies should be timely, transparency and trouble- free. It will help in reducing possibilities of errors,” he said .

Modi said, the right to information is not only about the right to know but also the right to question as this will increase faith in democracy.”People should have a right to question the government”, he said.

Prime Minister said “this is the foundation of democracy, this will increase faith in democracy. When matters go online, ttransparency increases automatically. Trust also increases” .

Modi said, the  aim of the Right To Information Act is to bring about a positive change in governance.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his address, complimented the Central Information Commission for ten successful years of performance and dwelt at length on the evolution of Right To Information (RTI) Act over the years. He said, the RTI has certainly helped in making the Government functionaries more cautious while putting down their notes and increase the level of accountability.

Jaitley called for further improvement in the functioning of Right To Information and said, this was also time to look forward.

Dr Jitendra Singh, while speaking on the occasion, said that the present Government has laid before itself three primary objectives for governance which are “transparency in governance, ease of governance and citizen centric governance” and added that these three are intrinsically interlinked with the Right To Information and reinforce Modi Government’s commitment to provide “Maximum Governance, Minimum Government”.

Dr Jitendra Singh observed, even though the Right To Information (RTI) became a Constitutional Act only ten years ago, the basic instinct for information has existed right from the day when the first human being placed his foot on the surface of this planet.

Earlier, Chief Information Commissioner, Vijai Sharma welcomed the guests and presented a resume of the working of the Central Information Commission.