In an attempt sensitise the masses, especially students and women, to the ‘Right to Information Act’, the Aranthangi Legal Services Committee has been organising a series of awareness programmes, focussing on the provisions of the Act and the official procedure for obtaining any relevant information.
Speaking at one of the programmes organised at Aranthangi, Chairman of the Committee, V.P. Velusamy said that the provisions of the Act aimed at ensuring more efficiency in administration of public sector undertakings, governmental departments and government-aided institutions. Students and women should realise the relevance of the Act in the larger interest of the public.
He said that it was mandatory for every official receiving a petition under the Act to furnish authentic information within a deadline of 30 days from the date of receipt of the petition. The Act, he said, had gone a long way in ensuring right to information but also right information to the needy.
He also clarified that a few confidential categories such as information obtained from foreign countries and any information likely to endanger personal security life or physical safety of an individual have been exempt from the Act.
Judicial Magistrate, Aranthangi, T. Pannerselvam; Assistant Superintendent of Police, Aranthangi, A. Saravanan and general secretary of District Consumer Forum S. Dhanavelu were among those who spoke.
Appeal to women SHG members
They appealed to the women members of self-help groups, who were present in large number, to sensitise the masses to the Act. Secretary of Consumer Council, Aranthangi, R. Abdul Rahman explained the procedure to be followed for obtaining information from the governmental agencies or departments.
