RTI provisions can bridge gap between people and govt: CIC

Bhubaneswar, Feb 12 (PTI) Chief Information CommissionerSatyananda Mishra today said provisions under the Right toInformation Act (RTI) could be used to bridge the gap betweenpublic and the government.

"Issues like corruption and nepotism contribute to thegrowth of mistrust between the government and the people andit could result in the administration losing accountability,"the Chief Information Commissioner said.

By using provisions of the RTI people''s mistrust could becleared and transparency be maintained, he said.

Mishra who was addressing a seminar on ''Challenges of RTIAwareness'' said Maoists take benefit of a situation ofmistrust and unless there is trust between the people and thegovernment, the nation would lead towards "anarchy."

"This (RTI) is not a law to create order but to ensurelegitimacy in a democratic set up", he said adding that underthis act it was mandatory for the government to disclose 17types of information.

"Not even 10 per cent of the government offices in thecentral sector had done so", he pointed out.

"Unfortunately, it has not happened", Mishra said whileemphasising that there was need to put more thrust on thesame.

The CIC said that about one million people had soughtinformation from the central government during the last oneyear of whom only 27,000 had approached the CentralInformation Commission for redressal as they were dissatisfiedwith the response received at the level of the PublicInformation Officer.

But it also meant that the rest of the informationseekers were satisfied which reflected well on the system, hesaid, adding, the CIC was initiating steps to make moreauthorities accountable under the purview of the RTI Act.

Prof S C Mishra, Acting Vice-Chancellor of theUniversity presided over the deliberations which was alsoaddressed by senior journalist Rajaram Satapathy and prominentRTI activist Nishikanta Mohapatra.