A target of covering 20 villages to promote awareness about the RTI Act is set for this year.
VIJAYAWADA: RTI Week is being observed from October 5 to 12 to commemorate the 17 years of its effective implementation across the country and create awareness of how the public can best exercise their Right to Information under the RTI Act 2005.
The State government has decided to observe the third Friday of every month as RTI Day exclusively to deal with RTI applications/appeals by Public Information Officers (PIOs) and First Appellate Authorities (FAAs).
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Repala Srinivasa Rao, Chief Information Commissioner (in-charge), said the government directed all the district collectors to take up activities to advance the understanding of the public, particularly among disadvantaged communities as to how to exercise the right guaranteed under the Act.
The activities to be taken up at the district level include workshops on ‘RTI Act and its Implementation’, ‘RTI Clearance Day’ and ‘Awareness of RTI Act’ and RTI awareness programmes for all PIOs/FAAs.
He said, “We are very proud to announce that the government of Andhra Pradesh has agreed to observe the third Friday of every month as RTI Day exclusively for the handling of the RTI applications/appeals by PIOs and FAAs. Instructions in this regard have been sent to all the district collectors and heads of departments. This is a big achievement for the AP Information Commission (APIC) towards the effective implementation of the RTI Act in the State.”
APIC is also planning to rope in law colleges of the State to conduct legal awareness/service camps in villages exclusively covering the RTI Act. A sum of `10,000 will be paid to the colleges per camp to meet the expenditure. A target of covering 20 villages to promote awareness about the RTI Act is set for this year.
Elaborating on how to file an RTI application, how it is processed, and what needs to be done if an RTI query is rejected or unanswered, Srinivasa Rao said India’s RTI was rated the fourth-best in the world in 2016 and the sixth best by the Centre for Law and Democracy and Access Info Europe, Canada in 2018.
Highlighting the AP Information Commission’s achievements, he said, “We are able to dispose of 21,211 appeals/complaints (15,530 appeals and 5,681 complaints) out of the total of 23,618 appeals received (17,166 appeals and 6,452 complaints). The remaining 2,407 appeals are at various stages of disposal. Disposal of 89 per cent of appeals/complaints received is a huge achievement.”
In all, 4,290 appeals have been received by the APIC in 2022. Of the total, it has disposed of 2,943 appeals. As many as 1,080 complaints have been received and 574 have been disposed of to date, the Chief Information Commissioner added.
