Information Commissioner under the Right to Information (RTI) Act R. Dileep Reddy said on Tuesday that a pilot project to prepare a “digital directory” with information pertaining to all government departments was launched in Krishna and Mahabubnagar districts.
The aim was to ensure that information pertaining to the implementation of the RTI Act was regularly updated online by all the departments, he said.
Addressing a workshop organised by the Centre for Good Governance (CGG) in the District Collectorate here on the implementation of the RTI Act, Mr. Reddy observed that there was lack of awareness among the officials about the Act even after four years of its implementation. “Public Information Officers of various departments are not updating the online information pertaining to their departments. In this backdrop, the pilot project will be of great use for the public,” he said.
Mr. Reddy said the project would be on the lines of the popular Google search engine, where people could get required information at the click of a mouse of the computer. “The CGG is making arrangements to prepare the digital directory,” he said.
Information Commissioner Ambaty Subba Rao said that of the total 1.8 lakh PIOs of various departments in the State, only 8,000 were found to be updating the information online. The CGG’s plan would be of great help for the public to get the required information in less time.
Krishna District Collector Peeyush Kumar said the objective of the meeting was to create awareness among the officials about the implementation of the Act.
He advised the PIOs of various departments to exchange information pertaining to the implementation of the Act.
CGG Knowledge Manager Satyajit said the project would enable the people to get as much information as possible by keying in on the computer keyboard.
Information pertaining to the services of various departments, manuals, legislations, rules, documents, details of boards, councils, committees, plans, revenue resources, subsidies given by the government to various schemes, issuance of licences and permits, and so on, could be accessed online once the project was completed.
Superintendent of Police D. Ramakrishnaiah and other officials were present.
