Security of info seekers must be ensured: Ansari

Lucknow: An individual demanding information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act should be emboldened and feel secure, said Vice President M Hamid Ansari, who dedicated to people the new UPSIC building, RTI Bhawan, here on Monday in the presence of Governor Ram Naik, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and chief information commissioner Jawed Usmani.
Ansari said, "Of late, there have been reports of attack and assault on information seekers.This needs to be prevented." UP government, on directions of UP State Information Commission (UPSIC) has already issued directions to district magistrates and SSPs in this regard.
Listing corrective measures to be carried out by the government and information commissions, he 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.
Terming RTI Act as one of the most empowering and progressive legislations passed in Independent India, 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 executes 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.
Governor Ram Naik said misuse of RTI Act has to be checked and prevented. Citing an RTI application he received fourth months after assuming the office, he 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," said Naik.
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."