A two-day National Colloquium on RTI witnessed the identification of the judiciary as being foremost in effectively implementing the Right to Information Act. The event, which concluded on December 12 at the imposing NJA here, discussed issues in administrative efficiency, public accountability and constitutional governance and was organised in association with the Administrative Reforms Commission.
Justices of High Courts, civil servants, representatives of leading NGOs and mediapersons were among those who interacted at the colloquium convened against the backdrop of the recently-enacted Right to Information Act, 2005.
Delivering the inaugural address, Chief Justice of India Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal said RTI would enhance the democratic values in constitutional governance b y providing tools to enforce transparency and accountability.
Second Administrative Reforms Commission Chairman M Veerappa Moily stated that "citizen-centric decision-making shall suitably be enabled" by the Act's implementation. He emphasised the "people need to be exposed to information about incentives to have a corruption-free government." Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal Chairman N Santosh Hegde said, "With the RTI Act coming into effect, the status of the Official Secrets Act stood diluted and must therefore be drastically modified or repealed."
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