‘RTI ensures transparency in govt work’

Hoshiarpur, April 6

State Information Commissioner Khushwant Singh on Tuesday said the Right to Information (RTI) Act had been constituted to ensure transparency and accountability in government work. It was the responsibility of all public information officers to take the RTI Act seriously and provide information to the applicant within the stipulated time. He was addressing the officers on the last day of the two-day training programme for the public information officers and assistant public information officers of various departments of the district organised by Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) at the District Administrative Complex. He was accompanied by the Regional Project Director of MGSIPA, PS Joshi, resource person advocate Shiv Kumar Sonik and District Revenue Officer Amanpal Singh.

The State Information Commissioner said, “Training was that phase of the field when we got to know a system better. Therefore, training, if taken, leads to efficiency and positive improvement in work and this is also the goal of training.” He said under the Right to Information Act, 2005, people had been given the right to get any information from the department and its aim was to bring transparency in the work and check corruption. He said after the introduction of the RTI Act, there had been many positive changes in the system.

Khushwant Singh said the PIOs of all the departments should ensure that information was provided to the applicants within the stipulated time. Public Information Officers (PIOs) had been appointed in every department to give information.

During the training, MGSIPA regional project director PS Joshi, resource person Dr Usha Kapoor, advocate Shiv Kumar Sonik and Punjabi University’s head of Law Department Dr Nimmi spoke on the legal aspects of the RTI Act.