Monday, 23 October 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The RTI Club, Uttarakhand organised a discussion to mark 18 years of the Right To Information Act. The discussion was held on the subject of upcoming challenges involved in the implementation of the RTI Act. Speaking as the chief guest, retired justice Rajesh Tandon acknowledged that procuring information was indeed challenging but encouraged the RTI activists to use the provision of the Whistleblower Act to safeguard themselves.
Former State information commissioners Vinod Nautiyal and SS Rawat spoke at length on the need for awareness drives to take the RTI movement to the grassroot level. Current State information commissioners Yogesh Bhatt and Arjun Singh also expressed their views on the occasion. Bhatt spoke about the misuse of the RTI Act and the need to address the concern. Concern was also expressed regarding the appointment of PIOs and the need to appoint higher ranking officials, across various departments.
Presiding over the discussion, General Administration secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said that the RTI Act has indeed empowered the common man and therefore it is all the more important to resolve the issues in its implementation.
Finance deputy secretary Gajendra Singh received the Late Dr RS Toliya Memorial Citation on behalf of his Department of Finance, Vinay Shukla received the citation for Fighter and Aggressive – RTI Activist and the Late Jagdish Prasad Chauhan citation was received by Ajay Narayan Sharma.
RTI Club president BP Maithani, JP Maithani and others were also present on the occasion.
