Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 28:
Pamphlets giving guides on the Right to Information Act, 2005 were released during a function jointly organised by Centre for Organisation Research and Education (CORE) and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi at Manipur Press Club here today.
Chairperson of Manipur Human Right Commission WA Shishak and RTI activist N Ibomcha were respectively chief guest and president of the function.
The pamphlets on RTI are being brought out with the main objective of making the people aware of their right to have access to information they need from various Government departments.
Speaking at the occasion, WA Shishak said Right to Information Act is one of the most important Acts and prevalence of corruption in various Government Departments can be wiped out only when the people know how to use this Act properly.
"In a democratic country, the Government machineries are duty bound to keep the public informed about the developmental activities of the Government.
In such a situation, if any of the Government officials are unwilling to provide any information related to the activities of the Government, then we can rest assume that officials are trying to cover up something," Shishak said.
In his presidential address, L Ibomcha charged the Government of Manipur with not taking up necessary measures for proper implementation of the Right to Information Act in the State.
"Out of 11 persons to be appointed in the Manipur Information Commission, only one person has been appointed so far.
This itself goes to show that the State Government is not in favour of implementation of the this Act," he alleged.
Echoing the same sentiments, Advocate Rakesh Meihoubam of Manipur Human Rights Law Network, who also spoke at the occasion, observed that so far RTI Act exists only on paper in Manipur and no sincere efforts have been made by the Government to implement the Act in all the Government Departments.
There are even instances in which the Public Information Officers (PIOs) appointed by the Departments concerned do not know the provisions of the Act fully.
Elaborating on the charges, Rakesh recalled that when the Manipur State Legal Services Authority was approached with the help of RTI Act on how many people have been imparted knowledge about this Act, the Public Information Officer of the Authority did not know the necessary procedure under the RTI Act.
So there is the urgent need on the part of the State Govt to impart necessary training on RTI to all the Public Information Officers appointed.
There is also the need to organise mass awareness programme among the people in this regard, he added.