Citizens should be informed about their duties, rights: Modi

New Delhi, Mar 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said it was imperative that people are made aware about the importance of their duties as asserting one's own rights without rendering duties is against the fundamental value of the Constitution.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new building premises of the Central Information Commission (CIC) here, he said just like the RTI (Right to Information), the concept of 'Act Rightly' should be discussed and the citizens should be informed about their duties along with their rights. He urged the CIC, which has a large public interaction, to take up the task of making aware the citizens about 'Act Rightly'.

Claiming of rights without rendering duties is against the core value of the Constitution, Modi said as he added that the wrong practice of misusing rights of people and powers for self-interest or vested interests should end.

"Transparency and accountability are very necessary for democratic and participative governance. When there is transparency in the arrangements, increasing responsibility towards the people, a sense of responsibility, both the work of the governments and the impact of the schemes change," he said.

At the event, Modi also launched a mobile app of the CIC for better public interaction.

"I agree", he said, "that an empowered citizen is the strongest pillar of our democracy".

"In the last four years you have seen how the central government has attempted to inform and empower the people of the country through different means," he said.

According to Modi, there have been many examples in history when information is treated like a one-way channel and hence there were many serious consequences thereof.

"So our government, instead of one dimensional approach, works on the principle of modern information highway," he said.

An empowered citizen is the most important pillar of our democracy, he said. He said his government has been working on five pillars of modern information highway -- ask, listen, interact, act and inform.

"India is fast becoming a digitally-empowered society; information technology is being used to ease processes and ensure transparency and quality of service," he said.

He said since the enactment of the RTI Act about 12 years ago, the CIC has been operating in rented accommodation and his government, in 2014, accorded a sanction of Rs 60 crore for constructing an independent building for the transparency body.

PTI