Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh spoke on the importance of official documentation and record keeping and further stressed the need to compile official documents like official gazettes, decisions of Durbar, state cabinets, assemblies, acts, etc. for record keeping and future references.
He was speaking at a function for the release of the book ‘A Compendium of Important Decisions of Manipur Information Commission’, published by the Manipur Information Commission, at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister appreciated the Manipur Information Commission (MIC) and said it was a good effort towards proper documentation and record keeping.
Today, we can understand the real picture of past Manipur through these documents and old records, he said.
Stating that through satellite mapping, we can find where a certain location was in the past years, the Chief Minister also added that through this, proper documentation of where every district was can be produced.
Highlighting the importance of documentation in Land Revenue records, the Chief Minister also added that digitization of land records is also in process.
Biren Singh spoke against the misuse of the Right to Information Act and cited that people were afraid of committing wrongdoing because of the presence of RTI.
The constitution of Lokayukta in the state is to ensure transparency and fight corruption to give at least some hope and aspiration to the people, the Chief Minister said. He also highlighted the efforts of the anti-corruption cell.
State Chief Information Commissioner, Oinam Sunil Singh, said the book is a compilation of the Commission’s judgements and contains some landmark judgements. The officer hoped that the book, which took over a year to make, would be very helpful to future generations, especially the student community, for their research and how the commission has worked over the years for the welfare of the public.
Sunil said that despite MIC being an autonomous and statutory body under the Right to Information Act, 2005, to ban or minimise corruption, it will shed light on all the government’s functioning, which is based on truth and fact.
The officer also urged the state government to provide a suitable building where they can function properly.
The function was also attended by Law and Legislative Affairs Minister Thounaojam Basanta Singh and other officials.
