Misuse of RTI Act should be checked, says Naik

Lucknow: Governor Ram Naik on Monday said that misuse of RTI Act has to be checked and prevented. Speaking at the inauguration of RTI Bhawan in the city, Naik, citing an RTI application he received after assuming the office, said, "The seeker asked if I was 82-year-old and had been treated for cancer. He wanted to know what treatment I was given. I wondered if information like that could also be sought under RTI.But it also shows that the Act is popular."
Earlier, vice-president Hamid Ansari, listing corrective measures to be carried out by the government and information commissions, said, "Sustained mass awareness campaign is needed at central and state levels to increase public awareness about the RTI and its operations; public authorities should voluntarily disclose information held by them and old mindset regarding secrecy of government processes and transactions needs to end."
Ansari said the one in the country is the world's best and with an excellent implementation record. The RTI Act, he said, is different from other enactments in its operation. "For most other laws, government is the executor but for RTI, it is the citizen who execute and government acts in response. Besides, a radical provision of the Act is that information-seekers need not give a reason for demanding the information or prove his/her locus standi for it," said Ansari.
Information, whether provided to government or common people always improve governance, said chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, to which CIC Jawed Usmani added, "It's because of RTI that transparency and accountability in governance has increased."
Information commissioner Arvind Singh Bisht cited an example to prove utility of the RTI Act. "A contractor was engaged for making some arrangements for Lok Sabha elections in 1991. Since then, there have been seven PMs but he has not got his dues. His repeated queries have gone futile. The man has now approached the UPSIC."