RTI should be filed in public interest and not for time pass, says Qaneez Sukhrani

Hindustan Times: Pune: Monday, December 18, 2017.

Sharing her views about Right to Information (RTI) Act, Qaneez Sukhrani said, “RTI should be filed in public interest and not for time pass. Also RTIs should be filed only if the person intends doing something pro-active about the information that is received. Also the information received should be used only in public interest.”

The member of Nagrik Chetna Manch was speaking at a session on ‘How to use right to information (RTI) in your day-to-day life’ held in the city on Saturday with a view to encourage citizens to make efficient use of Right to Information (RTI) Act. People from across the city attended the session to enable everyone to understand the RTI with simplicity.

The session was organised at ex-Fergussonian hall in Fergusson college on Saturday. The panelists included RTI activists Vijay Kumbhar who is also the founder of Surajya Sangharsh Samiti; Sukhrani and Tanmay Kanitkar, president of city-based NGO, Parivartan. Author Vinita Deshmukh was the moderator for the event.

Sukhrani stated that authorities do not provide protection to RTI applicants. “Result is that applicants face threats in case one has asked for information relating to illegality, tender, work order and other controversial issues,” she said.

Speaking about using RTI in our day-to-day lives, Tanmay said, “There are various government schemes of which the beneficiaries are not aware or need more information. They can get the necessary information through RTI. Also, by using RTI effectively, people can make authorities take cognisance of various things and make help in better implementation of schemes.”

He further stated that implementation of Section 4 of RTI Act, which is voluntary disclosures by public authorities wherein they must publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect the public is very poor. “People can file RTIs and help implement Section 4 of RTI Act,” said Kanitkar.

He said that students must actively check their school board or websites to know and check that all the necessary information are available on the website. If not they must seek the reason from the administration as they are liable to do so under Section 4.
Sukhrani too said that most authorities fail to upload information on their websites. Even if they do, it is in some obscure corner with a title which does not match. She said that the search engine http://rti.gov.in has not simplified the process as it is mandatory to know specific dates, topic (as the government titles it) category, sub-category to track any circular.