Karnataka - Mysore   

Reflecting on the effectiveness of RTI Act

MYSORE: A one-day conference on “Governance: Sixty Years of Administrative Reforms” was held in the city on Saturday. The conference was organised by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Mysore branch, and the Institute of Development Studies, University of Mysore. Amita Prasad, Director-General, Administrative Training Institute, touched upon the Right to Information (RTI) Act and said there was reluctance on the part of bureaucrats to divulge information. In a paper on ‘RTI and Reforms in Governance’, she noted that a culture of secrecy prevailed in the country till 2005 and this lack of openness led to the abuse of power and diversion of public money.

She said the RTI Act 2005 is a culmination of many struggles and demands of civil society and NGOs. She added that empowering people was not high on the agenda of bureaucrats due to red tape and poor-working systems. “Good governance” is perceived as both cause and effect for development and improved quality of life, she said.

M. Umapathy, President, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Mysore chapter; P. Venkatramaiah, former Vice- Chancellor of Kuvempu University; Maj.Gen (retd) Sudhir Vombatkere; R. Krishna, President of MCCI; and J. Somashekar, Director, Dr. Ambedkar Research Centre, were present.

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