‘Voluminous info being sought under RTI’

Former Member of Parliament M. Narayana Reddy pointing to a memento in the hands of a student at the seminar on the RTI Act at Women's College in Nizamabad on Thursday.- Photo: K.V. Ramana

Stakeholders and Public Information Officers participating at the two-day national seminar on the topic of ‘Nine Years of RTI Act, implementation and levels of awareness’, being held at Women’s College, felt that blackmailing was one of the major problems in the execution of the Act.

They also felt that it is impossible to maintain the Section 41 (B) of the Act. Many RTI activists are seeking voluminous information, they said.

Major lacunae

Addressing the inaugural of the two day seminar on Thursday, district Collector D. Ronald Ross said that dissemination of information and pro-active disclosure are the major lacunae in the execution of the Act.

However, he made it very clear that no government officer is reluctant in giving information.

Seminar convener V. Vasundhara Devi said that the RTI activists from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nalgonda, Prakasam and Nizamabad districts and PIOs of all departments are taking part in the event.

On the inaugural day, a technical session was held and today’s sessions will be held on problems in monitoring the implementation and in training.

Praja Nigha Vedika convener V.V. Rao, former Member of Parliament and college education committee chairman M. Narayana Reddy, college principal D. Uma, organising committee members J. Anasooya and B. Balamani were present.