IMPHAL, April 27: The rule of law does not seem to govern the personnel of the Police Department as the police do as they please. Such rampant disregard of the norms of society is also similarly carried out by many bureaucrat officers regarding implementation of development policies of the state.
RTI activist W Joykumar made the statement at the inaugural function of the 2-day workshop on training of the trainers on using RTI held at Hotel Nirmala today.
He further stated that the citizens have the right to know what is happening inside the government and why the flagship policies of the centre scantly reach the targeted population.
Mentioning that the RTI is a tool to make the functioning of the government transparent Joykumar said, such workshops are needed to train people on utilizing the RTI.
The workshop was financed by the British High Commission, India and organized by Macha Leima.
The inaugural session was attended by Kh Gomti, retired district sessions judge and Macha Leima chairperson Th Mohini as the chief guest and president respectively.
The chief guest in her speech said that the RTI Act was enforced since 2005 and provided citizens to seek information from the government and has remained a useful tool.
Adding that women RTI appellates face a tiresome task and faces harassment while seeking information as certain government officers are reluctant to endorse their query, she stated that some information however cannot be sought on grounds of secret government protocol.
Mentioning that if the state public information officers do not reciprocate, the matter can be taken up with the Chief Information Officer and the erring official can be fined. She supported the trainers to have the zeal to pursue the truth.
Among the panelists for the session tomorrow mention may be made of IFP Resident Editor Irengbam Arun, Dr L Debabartta Roy of CORE, advocate Rakesh Meihoubam and RTI activist W Joykumar.
It may be mentioned that Macha Leima is a pioneering women organization in empowering women to utilize the RTI act.