Bishnupur: As part of the observation of Right to Information (RTI) Week, an awareness program on RTI was held Friday at the conference hall, Mini Secretariat in Bishnupur on the theme “Improving Transparency and Accountability in Government Through Effective Implementation of RTI Act”.
The program was organized by the State Academy of Training, Manipur with sponsorship from the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India.
Speaking as the resource person, N Brajakanta Singh, Faculty, Law Department, Manipur University stated that one of the main objectives of RTI Act is to contain corruption in the society and cautioned against providing ‘manufactured facts’ to information seekers. Brajakanta briefly presented the key features and procedures of the RTI Act to the participants comprising of ADC, AC to DC and DLOs of the district.
Replying to a query from one of the participants during the interaction session, Brajakanta informed that BPL applicants are exempted from paying any fees under the Act. Information should be given within 30 days from the date on which the application is received whereas information concerning the life or liberty of a person should be provided within 48 hours, he said.
Responding to another query on the information held by another public authority, Brajakanta stated that such applications shall be transferred to the concerned public authority or more closely associated with the functions within five days. Stating that the responsibility of APIOs is at the sub-divisional level, he pointed out that Public Information Officers are not duty-bound to respond hypothetical questions in RTI applications.
