Implementing RTI a challenge

CHIEF INFORMATION Commissioner of India Wajahat Habibullah today said execution of the Right to Information (RTI) Act was a challenge. He emphasised the need for awareness among the people about RTI provisions.

CHIEF INFORMATION Commissioner of India Wajahat Habibullah today said execution of the Right to Information (RTI) Act was a challenge. He emphasised the need for awareness among the people about RTI provisions.

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He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Right to Information: Challenges in its implementation,” which was organised by the Lucknow Management Association (LMA). The seminar was attended by, among others, Lokayukta, Justice SC Verma, chief secretary R Ramani, and KGMU vice-chancellor Mahendra Bhandari.

Habibullah, the first Chief Information Commissioner of India, said the challenges would be successfully met only when people were aware about the provisions of the Act. He urged various institutions, including NGOs and the media, to shoulder the responsibility of informing people about the Act.

He made a detailed presentation on the provisions of the RTI Act. He stressed that it was the responsibility of the government to make information available to people within the stipulated timeframe, failing which the officer responsible could be punished.

He said State Information Commissions had already been set up in around 20 States including Uttaranchal and expressed the hope that one would be set up in UP as well. Wajahat said he met CM Mulayam Singh Yadav, who assured him of setting up the commission in UP soon.