Nagpur, 23 Feb

(HS): Right to Information (RTI) is the beginning if a process of securing

justice and making the system accountable”, said Chief Information Commissioner

of Maharashtra, Rahul Pande.

Pande was

speaking on ‘Nuisance Management’ during CIMCON-26 in Nagpur on Sunday. He

underlined the importance of the RTI Act in bringing transparency in the

government functioning and empower the citizens to seek information and

justification to government action. The RTI Act has brought citizens on par

with legislators and parliamentarians in the sense that the government official

have to respond to RTI applications within the stipulated period and

accountable to citizens, Pande said.

Pande also spoke

about the government’s efforts to increase transparency in its functioning and empowering

citizens to access to any information. He refuted the allegations that the

government is trying to dilute the RTI Act. On the contrary efforts are being

made to ensure more transparency in the system. He expressed concern over

flooring of RTI application across the state and advised people not to apply

under RTI, if the information is already available in the public domain.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar