RTI Act is a powerful tool not a weapon

VIJAYAWADA: Unlike several others who termed the Right to Information (RTI) Act a weapon, information commissioner P Vijay Babu has described it as a powerful tool in the hands of people.Speaking to Express here on Sunday after holding a meeting with the Krishna district officials on implementation of the RTI Act, he underlined the need to remove misconceptions among some government officials and employees that it was meant to target them.Actually, the Act was enacted for the benefit of all people, he said.He asked the district administration to conduct a two-day workshop on the RTI Act for all the stakeholders, including citizens, RTI activists and public information officers (PIOs), for its effective implementation.“Many officials are of the view that the RTI Act is meant to target them on the pretext of seeking information for the benefit of public.Some RTI activists are alleging that they are denied information under the Act by the officials concerned.Others are saying that it is being misused by some to settle their personal scores.Hence, there is a need to conduct a workshop on the RTI Act for all the stakeholders for its effective implementation,” Vijay Babu said.“I asked district collector SAM Rizvi over phone, who could not meet me due to some reasons, to conduct the workshop on the RTI Act in Vijayawada,” he said.Speaking on his priorities, Vijay Babu said the RTI Commission wants to reduce the pendency of petitions to a large extent. When asked what are the departments that receive more applications under the RTI Act, he said they i n c l u d e d Revenu e , Panchayat Raj, Education and Home.He said notices would be issued to the officials concerned from June 18 seeking explanation pertaining to pending petitions under the RTI Act.Action would be initiated against the officials if they failed to give satisfactory explanation for the pendency within two weeks, he said.Incharge joint collector Janaki Devi, commissioner of police N Madhusudhan Reddy and district officials participated in the meeting.