KOLLAM: P. Faziluddin, State Information Commissioner, has said that the Right to Information Act appears to be still behind curtains in the State, though the Government should have completed the formalities for its implementation by October 12, 2005.

Inaugurating a workshop on the Act organised by the History and Political Science departments of Fatima Mata National College here on Friday, Mr. Faziluddin said that as a result of this, the State Information Commission was unable to ensure that Government officials adhered to the provisions of the Act.

Many Government offices still did not have information officers, though their appointment was mandatory under the Act. Yet, a surprising aspect was that no one bothered to raise the issue. This was because people were not fully aware of the provisions of the Act, a mechanism to get information from Government offices.

He said the Act underlined that the real masters were the people themselves. It, for the first time in the history of India, had given seven obligations to officials for serving the people. The Government offices came under a new responsibility, making it mandatory for them to explain the reasons for any decision taken by the officials to anyone who asked. It gave an opportunity for people to participate in administration. If any office failed to give information, people could complain to the commission, he added.

L. Vinayakumar, Head of the Political Science Department of S.N. College, Kollam, and Raju Abraham, Professor from Mar Athanasius College, spoke. Head of the History Department of Fatima college C. Stanley John welcomed the gathering.

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