Friends,
RTI act has just turned eight . The sunshine act has brought smile to millions of faces despite there being a constant tug-of-war like situation between public authorities and the info-seekers. Virtually, in most of the cases, Information is not being imparted by the public authorities rather info-seekers are being forced to apply all their might to snatch it from the claws of the corrupt system. In the very process,we had lost numerous valuable lives of our RTI activists whose opponents proved to be mightier than them . More or less each every info-seeker's safety & security is at risk.
As the preamble of the RTI act says, the act's aim was to set out a practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.The preamble also states that democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed;And whereas revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with other public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information; And whereas it is necessary to harmonise these conflicting interests while preserving the paramountcy of the democratic ideal;Now, therefore, it is expedient to provide for furnishing certain information to citizens who desire to have it.
Now after eight years of enactment of RTI act, We,at YAISHWARYAJ feel that once again we should access the level of effectiveness of RTI act vis-à-vis aims set out at the time of its enactment. We wish to discuss as to how far RTI act has been successful in setting out a practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities , how far it has promoted transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities, how far it has been successful in preserving the paramountcy of the democratic ideal while penalizing those who create undue hurdles in impart of information and so on.
Since we are running a RTI helpline no. 8081898081 also, our experience is that many a times, people misunderstand RTI act as a grievance redressal mechanism. Despite getting the required information in the first or second go, people keep on filing RTIs in different ways in the same matter, keep shooting RTIs exponentially based on cues from replies of previous RTIs etc. only because there grievance is not resolved. We want to discuss at large as to what measures should be taken to create awareness among masses as to ensure appropriate use of information obtained under RTI at appropriate time.
We also want to discuss the possibilities beyond RTI act with the aim to explore tools to ensure true participatory democracy in India.
As we all know that thought-sharing process always results in precipitation of 'nectar' in the form of innovative ideas which have strength to change the future. So with this pious aim we are organizing a Seminar on :
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" Effectiveness of RTI act & the Road Ahead"
In Lucknow,Uttar Pradesh,India
On 07-12-2013 ( Saturday )
From 10 AM to 3 PM
At Jai Shanker Prasad Meeting Hall , Rai Umanath Bali Auditoriam Campus , Quaiserbagh Lucknow Uttar Pradesh,India
Organizer : YAISHWARYAJ Seva Sansthaan Lucknow
Contact rtimahilamanchup@gmail.com
Mobile 9369613513 , 9455553838 , 8081898081
You all are cordially invited to be with us & help us in makeing our endeavor a great success.
Regards.
Humbly Yours
Urvashi Sharma
Secretary - YAISHWARYAJ Seva Sansthaan Lucknow
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