Central Information Commission or CIC has invited only a handful of RTI activists, including Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shekhar Singh, Amrita Johri, Anjali Bharadwaj, Venkatesh Nayak and Lokesh Batra.CIC has broken convention and decided to keep activists out of the meet. CIC Vijai Sharma refused to comment on the issue.
The Prime Minister mentioned the auctions of coal blocks, spectrum and FM radio licenses, and said that information should be given out proactively to people.
The Prime Minister called for an end to the silo-approach in Government. He said administrative processes should be run based on trusting the people, rather than doubting the people.
The 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.
"In 2014, the central commission got 31,000 cases and presently has a pendency of over 38,000 cases. It is evident that at this languorous pace of working, RTI will slowly become like the Consumer Act, mainly in existence for commissioners. Citizens must wake out of their slumber and focus on getting commissioners who will dispose over 6,000 cases a year and give clear signals they won't tolerate tardines," The Times of India quoted Former Central Information Commissioner (CIC) Shailesh Gandhi as saying.
Leading RTI activists boycott PM #Modi's inaugural address at #RTI Convention at Vigyan Bhawan pic.twitter.com/n9dlhlV7BG
— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) October 16, 2015
In his speech Prime Minister 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 said that the Union Government's "Digital India" initiative is complimentary to RTI, because putting information online brings transparency, which in turn, builds trust. The Prime Minister mentioned the auctions of coal blocks, spectrum and FM radio licenses, and said that information should be given out proactively to people.
The Prime Minister called for an end to the silo-approach in Government. He said administrative processes should be run based on trusting the people, rather than doubting the people.
The 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.
"In 2014, the central commission got 31,000 cases and presently has a pendency of over 38,000 cases. It is evident that at this languorous pace of working, RTI will slowly become like the Consumer Act, mainly in existence for commissioners. Citizens must wake out of their slumber and focus on getting commissioners who will dispose over 6,000 cases a year and give clear signals they won't tolerate tardines," The Times of India quoted Former Central Information Commissioner (CIC) Shailesh Gandhi as saying.
