The state government has announced to celebrate RTI Week from October 7 to mark the completion of four years of the enforcement of the Right to Information (RTI) Act on October 12.

A notification to this effect has been issued to all the municipalities, municipal corporations, panchayats and district collectors asking them to take up activities related to the RTI during that week.

This will be implemented through the Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA), Ahmedabad in support with Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), an NGO working for RTI awareness in the state. The Union and the state governments have allocated funds for the celebrations. Each municipality, municipal corporation and district collector has been provided Rs 3 lakh. The funds are being used on hoardings related to the RTI and organising school and college-level debates.

Vadodara District Collector Vijay Nehra said, “We have planned a series of activities for the RTI Week. Workshops and media campaigns to create awareness on how the RTI can be useful will be held.” He said all the talukas have been asked to hold awareness camps for the people, adding, “We are also planning workshops to sensitise our own officers.”

It has been found that the department refuses to provide the information if it doesn’t pertains to it. This is against the provisions of the Act. “There is a provision to redirect the RTI application to the concerned authority,” said Nehra.

With regular allegations being levelled against the government for not implementing the Act in the earnest manner, it is apparently also trying to send the message through this that they are committed to the Act.

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