The Right to Information Act has been able to dispel doubts and bring about transparency in the work sphere, the Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission in Delhi Shailesh Gandhi said on Saturday.
Addressing a workshop organised by the Delhi Jal Board on the RTI at Delhi Secretariat here, Mr. Gandhi said the trend now is of moving towards greater accountability in governance. He said there was a greater transparency in the standards of performance and service delivery of public agencies to the citizens.
Mr. Gandhi went on to say that transparency and accountability are possible only when the public have access to information related to the functioning of agencies and organisations like the Delhi Jal Board.
He expressed hope that the DJB will keep on moving towards the information regime to honour the true spirit of the RTI Act, 2005. He suggested the execution and administrative procedures to deliver the information well in the spirit of the Act.
Talking about the simplicity of the act, he said standard management practices may ensure the functional transparency and working accountability.
About 180 officers involved in the Information Delivery System also participated in the workshop, which was attended by Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta, Chief Executive officer of the DJB Ramesh Negi and Secretary (DJB) Dr. Bipin Behari.
Mr. Mehta said the RTI Act was the most relevant act for the people of India and it had the potential to facilitate not just transparent governance but to strengthen the spirit of public service delivery mechanism.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Negi discussed the development of a monitoring mechanism and issuing of user’s guidelines, which would help contribute towards the creation of a well strengthened mechanism of delivering information under the RTI Act, 2005.
