Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said discretion should be used in exercising the provisions of the Right to Information Act, as certain information ought to remain confidential.
Not all Cabinet decisions, for instance, can be disclosed to the public before their implementation.
If revealed beforehand, some measures might become ineffective, Mr. Vijayan said.
Caution against misuse
Mr. Vijayan was speaking after inaugurating the State Information Commission’s one-day seminar on the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005.
He stressed the need to identify persons who misused legislation for their interests.
An efficient system for relaying information to the public was important to achieve the goal of establishing a transparent and corruption-free society, he said.
Through the RTI, citizens could complement the government’s efforts to clean up the administration. Therefore, measures to strengthen the reach of the Act among the public were being considered, Mr. Vijayan said.
These included introducing details about the Act in the school curriculum and creating software that links other departments with the Information Commission.
‘Vacancies will be filled’
The government would also take steps to fill the vacancy of five commissioners in the State Information Commission, the Chief Minister said.
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Vinson M. Paul; V.S. Sivakumar, MLA; Sheela Thomas, Secretary, General Administration; and former CIC M.N. Gunavardhanan spoke on the occasion.
