All must respect the Right to Information Act and officers must provide the information sought by the applicants, Commissioner of Information Lam Thantiya Kumari said at a meeting she held with officers of all Government departments on implementation of the Act here on Saturday. “The meeting is meant for implementation of RTI Act in a smooth manner. Public Information Officers, the First Appellate officers and all officers must have a thorough knowledge of the Act,” she said.
It was the duty of the officers to provide information in time and the Act should not be diluted and its value should be improved by providing information at the first level itself, Ms. Kumari advised the officers.
“No officer what ever his position might be would be spared if he or she is found at fault (in implementing the Act)”, the Commissioner said.
Finding that the District Educational Officer, Regional Intermediate Officer, Project Officer of Rajiv Vidya Mission and Coordinator of the Vaidyavidhana Parishad were not present, she said showcause notices would be issued to them.
She told the police that slapping cases against RTI Act activists and attack on them was not proper. Activists Kandregula Venkataramana and secretary of RTI Act Rakshana Vedika B. Harshavardhan explained the problems they were facing in offices and apathy of officers and staff.
Commissioner of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy, Joint Collector Pravin Kumar, District Revenue Officer M. Venkateswara Rao and other officers attended.
