Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Right to Information Act facilitation kiosks sought

Special Correspondent

Relevant info not readily available: Forum for Better Visakha

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Forum for Better Visakha (FBV) has urged the district authorities to install Right to Information Act (RIA) facilitation kiosks at important locations such as the Collectorate, municipal offices and urban development authorities wherever they exist and similar locations.

Coordinator of the forum and former Energy Secretary E.A.S. Sarma said here on Sunday that he found that the good intentions with which the Government had introduced the legislation were yet to percolate down to the field functionaries in different departments. There was no clarity on the names and other details of the officials designated as `Public Information Officers', and `Appellate' authorities under the Act at each level in each Government department. The very fact that the relevant information was not readily available to the citizens eroded the very purpose of the RIA, he noted.

Appeal to officials

Mr. Sarma appealed to the Chief Information Commissioner at the State level and the District Collectors in the different districts, to make it mandatory for the different Government offices in their respective jurisdictions to display prominently the names of the Public Information Officers and the corresponding Appellate authorities, their addresses and telephone numbers, along with the matters on which they would be held responsible for furnishing information under the Act.

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