Central information commissioner (CIC) M.M. Ansari claimed on Monday that the Right to Information (RTI) Act is reducing corruption at the rate of 15 per cent and has increased transparency in the country.
"It is the perception of 'Transparency International' (the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption) that RTI has enabled decline in corruption in India at the rate of 15-20 percent. The annual report of TI shows that transparency is increasing," Ansari said.
Ansari was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the meeting of members of the national co-ordination committee on Right to Information Act.
He said some states were conducting research on reduction in corruption by getting feedback-forms filled by information seekers. Ansari said the feedback forms include questions like whether officers are demanding money or whether their conduct has improved. Ansari revealed that around 95 per cent decisions on RTI appeals have been given in favour of information seekers.
Speaking about Monday’s meeting, Rajan Kashyap (convenor of the co-ordinating committee and CIC of Punjab) said a national resource centre for all matters relating to RTI would be established within three months.
"The centre would co-ordinate the activities and initiatives within the purview of the Central Information Commission and the state information commissions. The Centre for Good governance, Hyderabad, has submitted a proposal for establishing the centre," Kashyap said.
Another decision was to undertake modernisation and scientific management of all records in government offices.
"The management of records is poor in all states. It has been decided that records should be upgraded in all states. This will facilitate data retrieval and delivery of information to the public under the RTI," Kashyap said.
Ansari said that individuals, NGOs, media and institutions could give their suggestions on the RTI regime by email to mm.ansari@nic.in so that the suggestions could be considered by the committee while formulating its recommendations.
The national co-ordination committee on the RTI Act has been formed in December 2007 by the central information commissioners and the state information commissioners to identify major obstacles in flow of information and to identify measures for removing them.
The other tasks include spreading of public awareness and training as mandated by the RTI Act.
The committee will be submitting its final report to the government before June 2008.
K.K. Misra (CIC, Karnataka), Suresh Joshi (CIC, Maharashtra), G. Madhavan (CIC, Haryana), C.D. Arha (CIC, Andhra Pradesh), A.K. Vijayvargiya( CIC, Chhatisgarh) attended the meeting.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/RTI_reducing_corruption_by_15/articleshow/2934021.cms
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