Hyderabad, October 13: In view of increasing attacks on RTI (Right to Information) activists, the State government has directed the district collectors and the superintendents of police to take steps to protect the activists and whistle-blowers who are under threat. In case they are being harassed by the public servants for blowing the lid, the government has asked the police to register cases under the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
Revealing the decisions of the State government at a seminar on the RTI Act at Jubilee Hall here today, special chief secretary to general administration department Minnie Mathew said there was need for protection of the RTI activists and whistle-blowers to encourage people to exercise their right to information. She said that usage of the RTI Act had helped in plugging the loopholes in implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the State where social auditing was conducted using the information acquired under RTI Act. She pointed out that the RTI Act was being misused by some people for settling personal scores. She also observed that names and phone numbers of the public information officers were not being displayed prominently at many government offices as required by the Act.
AP chief information commissioner Jannat Hussain said officials should furnish all information available with them as per the petitions filed with them under any circumstances, excluding a few exceptional cases. Though with some delay, people were getting the information they wanted without much trouble, he said.
Pointing out that several educated people are not utilising the RTI Act, Jannat Hussain said the commission was likely to receive about one lakh applications by the end of December this year.
State information commissioners Ambati Subba Rao, K Sudhakara Rao and R Dileep Reddy besides several senior officials of the State government and RTI activists participated in the day-long seminar organised to commemorate the completion of five years of the RTI Act. The participants deliberated on various problems being faced by the RTI activists and also the public information officers.
–Agencies