State level Workshop on RTI
Samarthan, in collaboration with the General Administration Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh and Department for International Development (DFID) organised a 2-day workshop on “Implementation of RTI – Status and Ways Forward“ during 5th and 6th February 2007 at Bhopal. The workshop was organised with a view to share of the experiences of the government and the civil society on the implementation of the RTI Act and its impacts on the ground and identifying ways forward to strengthen the implementation of the Act in Madhya Pradesh. The workshop was addressed by noted social activist Shri Anna Hazare. The workshop was attended by NGOs and panchayat representatives from various parts of the state. Several recommendations emerged from the workshop were shared and handed over to the State Government.
Some of the key recommendations emerged from the workshop were :
- There is a need for intensifying the education of community as well officials on the provisions of the Act.
- There should be provisions for acknowledging the Public Information Officers (PIOs) who are providing information efficiently.
- There should be more intensive monitoring of the status of applications being filed and duration and quality of reply at the district level.
- Early appointment of Chief Information Commissioner of M.P preferably not from the bureaucracy.
- The self disclosure manuals displayed on the website by the public authorities needs to be revised and updated on a regular basis.
Status Report on Implementation of RTI in Madhya Pradesh
A report on the status of implementation of RTI Act in Madhya Pradesh was prepared by Samarthan. The report is an attempt to access the impact of the implementation of RTI Act in Madhya Pradesh over the past one year. Some of the key highlights of the study are mentioned below:
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Self disclosure on website of various departments is ambiguous on the matters like documents available with departments, the decision making procedure etc. Only 2 PIOs were penalised out of the 519 applications disposed by the State Information Commissioner till March 2007.
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There is a significantly low level of awareness amongst people on their rights under RTI, It was observed that very few ordinary citizens were filing applications.
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It was also observed that most of the second appeals were filed by citizens of the urban areas.
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There are also significant examples of RTI applicants using information and building pressure on the government officials/ panchayat representatives for greater accountability.
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