Objective of RTI Act is to provide easy access to info for public interest.

Times of India: Varanasi: Sunday, October 08, 2023.

The UP State Information Commissioner Ajay Kumar Upreti called upon the officers and the first appellate authorities to effectively disclose information under the Right to Information Act, so that the objectives of this law of empowering the general public can be achieved. Upreti was interacting with the information officers of various departments of Banaras Hindu University and the first appellate officers on Friday. He said that the objective of the RTI Act is to provide easy access to the information necessary for public interest and to maintain transparency in government work. 

He gave the ‘Four C’ formula to the information officers for effective implementation of the RTI Act and said that the information and first appellate officers can effectively discharge their duty by communicating with the information seeker, cooperating in presenting the information request in the correct form, maintaining contact with the applicant, and making efforts towards understanding the RTI Act correctly. He also mentioned several important decisions taken by the Supreme Court and various high courts regarding the effective implementation of the RTI Act.

During the programme, the BHU registrar Prof Arun Kumar Singh spoke about the origin of the RTI Act and said that the intention of this act is to ensure that the public continues to get information. He said that right to information has today become an important medium of empowerment of the common citizen. Presiding over the programme the BHU rector Prof VK Shukla said that through this interaction, the information officers became aware of many practical aspects which they face regularly. The discussion with the information commissioner exposed them to many new aspects, due to which they would be successful in effectively disposing of the applications.

The joint registrar (administration-teaching) & BHI nodal officer of RTI Act, SP Mathur presented the introduction of the information commissioner. The directors of various institutions, faculty heads, heads of departments, and public information and first appellate officers of various departments and units of the university were present in the programme.