The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 10th Annual Convention of the Central Information Commission in New Delhi tomorrow. The two day convention is being organized on the theme of “RTI: Outlook for the future – Trust through Transparency”. The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley will address the convention during the inaugural session and the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh will also be present at the event.
The inaugural session will be followed by Technical sessions on themes focusing on the various aspects of working of the Commission and the benefits of the RTI Act, as observed during the decade. During these sessions, deliberations and discussions will take place on significant topics such as Translating RTI into Citizen Welfare – the expanding horizons in Digital India, Rationalizing the nature and scope of the Act; gaps; implications for use and misuse, the RTI Act seeks a “practical regime” and Making RTI better: experience from the states etc.
The deliberations in the convention would help in making a road map for the future achieving the aims and objectives of the Act towards greater transparency and accountability in the working of the public authorities for the benefits of the public and the country.
The Ministers in the Central Government, Secretaries of the Government of India, officials from Defence and Central Armed Police Forces, State Chief Information Commissioners, Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) and First Appellate Authorities (FAAs) of all the Ministries/Departments of Government of India, Heads of the Commission/Tribunals in Delhi, CMDs of the PSUs, Banking sectors and senior officials from various Government organizations, Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of Ministries, legal experts, and the members of NGOs are likely to attend the convention.
The annual convention of this year is important keeping in view the completion of one decade (2005-15) of enactment of Right to Information (RTI), Act. Since its inception, the Central Information Commission has received 2,12,762 complaints and appeals, of which 1,62,504 have been disposed of in its adjudicatory role. Around 5 million requests for information have been received upto June 2015 by the Public Authorities of the Central Government across the country since the inception of the RTI Act, 2005.