CHENNAI: Beware of Lokpal, implement the Right to Information (RTI) Act in letter and spirit, Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Comission warned government servants. Delivering the inaugural address of a two-day workshop on ‘Right to Information Act 2005’, organized by the Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE) Hyderabad and the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) here on Friday, CIC Satyananda Mishra said that Lokpal was likely to assume centrestage during the budget session as people had lost faith in government institutions and government servants.“People who don’t believe government servants are doing things objectively. There is an persistent demand for an ombudsman who should be completely independent and bring the guilty to book,” he said. “So, if you want to save yourselves as so much irregularities are going on in the government, then RTI should be implemented in letter and spirit as it is the antidote for corruption,” he observed.Urging government officials and public sector units to be transparent in providing information, he said record-keeping, cataloging and indexing and continuous proactive disclosure were essential while providing information.He also pulled up public information officers for not providing the information sought by applicants.“When the applicant is asking for information, you are not required to give your opinion. Provide him with the piece of information which he is seeking instead of interpreting it. Give him the photocopy of the record and not anything in writing,” he added.He also rejected the theory that RTI has been misused. “I feel the instances of misuse of RTI Act is infinitely small and there are large number of cases with genuine reasons,” he said, while defending the Act.“The information people want can’t be regulated at all,” he added.
Comments
0 comment