PANAJI: Goa is gearing up to implement the Central Right to Information Act along with the rest of the country with effect from October 12.

The Act will supersede the Goa Right to Information Act enacted in 1997 by the then Pratapsing Rane-led Congress Government. The Goa Union of Journalists (GUJ) had then carried out a prolonged struggle in association with local social and activist organisations to bring into force an Act to empower citizens to get access to government information.

The Government had initially come out with legislation that had some draconian clauses and sought to punish "the misuse of information received under the Act." The clause was deleted after an agitation by journalists and others, making the Act a positive legislation.

Chief Secretary Kiran Dhingra, who heads a task force set up by the Government to oversee the implementation of the new Central Act in the State, held a review meeting of the task force recently. Ms. Dhingra told The Hindu that the State administration is gearing up to put in place the necessary infrastructure, software, database, and the required forms for the implementation of the Act.

The Government will also ensure that all departments appoint information officers and assistant information officers. It will also push to appoint the State Information Commission and other authorities under the Act.

The idea is to make information and data available with various departments even if the online set up takes some time, she said.

The new Central Act will be implemented in all States across the country on Dasara day. Under the Act, every department will have public information officers (PIOs) and assistant PIOs. Citizens will have to approach the PIOs for information, which would then be furnished within 30 days. If the citizen doesn't get the information he has asked for, he can approach the First Appellate Authority — the head of the respective department.

Autonomous body

The final appellate authority will be the Chief Information Commissioner, who will head the Information Commission. It will be a full-fledged autonomous body on lines of the State Election Commission for which staff will soon be recruited. Sources said that the Government is in the process of appointing the Chief Information Commissioner.

Ms. Dhingra said the last review meeting took stock of the groundwork done by the Government.

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