IMPHAL Oct 12: Chief Information Commissioner Th Ibobi Singh said that many of the public authorities are not fully aware of the RTI Act and they tend to ignore it.
He expressed that such approach have hampered the implementation of RTI and further urged all stakeholders to partake in making the State government more transparent and accountable to the people.
This was expressed during the valedictory function of the decadal Right to Information Week-2015 at the State Guest House, Babupara today.
Member of Parliament Dr Th Meinya Singh and MLA of Yaiskul Assembly Constituency E Chand Singh graced the function as the chief guest and president respectively.
Speaking on the occasion, Meinya said the RTI Act is literally a watch-dog of the Government`™s performance. An informed citizen is equipped with more power to make the Government more accountable in their functioning, he stated.
He added `To usher transparency and accountability public should utilize the Right to Information Act 2005.`
The State Manipur Information Commission observed the RTI week from October 5 with various seminars, workshops and other programmes to disseminate the benefits of RTI Act in various parts of the State.
The observation was sponsored by the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension Government of India.
As part of the weeklong observation of the Right to Information Week, a quiz competition was held among five different colleges on October 8 and the Manipur College bagged the first prize, second position was secured by the DM College of Arts and third by DM College of Science & Imphal College and the consolation prize was received by GP Women`™s College. Prizes to winners of the competition were distributed by the dignitaries today.
Meanwhile,MLA E Chand remarked that government agencies and public authorities should readily disperse information when enquired by the public under the RTI. If the Act is properly utilized, the gap between public and authorities will be bridged towards better governance.