DNA: Mumbai: Wednesday, August
17, 2016.
As a mark of
acknowledgment that the transparency Act is not just providing information but
making changes in the lives of citizens, the Central Information Commission
(CIC) has decided to publish a book on success stories of the Right To
Information (RTI) Act. The published book then might be released by the prime
minister in the forthcoming annual convention in October.
Applicants
will have to send their stories to government administrative training
institutes, such as Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration
(Yashada), by August 20.
The RTI Act,
which came into effect in 2005, is one of the most widely used Acts by citizens
across the country. It has been used for purposes including grievance
redressal, getting citizens on level playing field by empowering them, helping
people in their right to fight corruption, and transparency in the government
functioning as well as all private parties into public service.
In a letter
to Yashada, the CIC stated that every year, an annual convention is held
mid-October to mark constitution of the RTI Act. “The Act has completed more
than 10 years and has been instrumental in ensuring greater and more effective
access to information to all citizens of the country, especially the
marginalised sections of the society. To mark this event, the commission
proposes to bring out a volume titled Success Stories of the Right to
Information Act,” the CIC stated.
It went on to
add, “The book shall contain success stories from across the country,
reflecting the success of the RTI Act as a tool to ensure citizens' access to
various services, ensuring better governance and introducing transparent
systems in the government functioning.” In Maharashtra, Yashada has been asked
to be the nodal agency for compiling and shortlisting the stories.
“Each
applicant will have to send a success story in English. These stories will then
be sent to administrative training institutes of their respective states to be
shortlisted by a board. People in Maharashtra can send them directly to
Yashada. Success stories have been published by states, but never at the
Central level,” said Milind Tanksale, director of center for RTI in Yashada,
which has earlier published RTI stories.
“It is a very
good initiative. There are a lot of success stories in as many years. The move
should give a clear message to public authorities that there is no going back
on RTI. More than focusing on allegations of blackmailing by people, public
authorities should concentrate on success stories,” said Bhaskar Prabhu, an RTI
activist and the convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch.
When asked
why they were calling for stories at such a short notice, Tanksale said, “They
had sent us a letter in June but consulting them on financial implications and
other things took time. Hence, there was a delay.”
.JPG)
.JPG)
