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| M.M. Ansari |
Ranchi, May 20: There are two challenges lying in the path of proper execution of the Right to Information (RTI) Act implemented in the country in 2005, feels Central Information Commissioner (CIC) M.M. Ansari.
“The first obstacle is lack of knowledge about the act while the second is the negative attitude of people seeking and providing information,” he said. Ansari, one of the seven information commissioners of the country, was here to impart training about different aspects of the RTI Act to more than 30 mining and army officers from different parts of the country at Indian Institute of Coal Management (IICM), Kanke.
The CIC said the people of this country were still not aware of the benefits of the RTI Act.
“This act is a weapon against corruption. But people are yet to know about its power and limitations of the information commission,” Ansari said, who feels that the masses are yet to correctly interpret the act.
“After talking to public information officers, I have found out that many people exercise the RTI Act to harass the officials. Instead of asking a direct question, such people seek answers to irrelevant queries. There is another section of people who wants all their problems solved by invoking the RTI Act. But for that they need to knock at the door of the courts,” Ansari added.
He stressed on the need to change this mindset of people to ensure smooth functioning of the act. “Voluntary organisations, NGOs and the media, which have played a crucial role so far to make the act effective, should work to change this attitude of the people. Awareness should be spread in such a way that information providers do not hide anything without reason and information seekers do not harass officials,” he said.
Ansari suggested inclusion of the act in school curriculum to make the younger generation aware of it. He believes that the increase in awareness level will automatically check corruption.
“After the implementation of the RTI Act, the corruption level in the country has reduced by 20 per cent. If some more efforts are put in, corruption will be completely eradicated,” he said.
