Nearly 40% of RTI users are not very educated. 10% people in rural areas and 30% in urban areas are aware of the Act and use it.
Though the Right to Information (RTI) law is being implemented comparatively faster than other laws in the country, the user base of the law needs to be increased. This is what experts opined on at a public meeting here on Wednesday.
The meeting was organised by NGO, Prashant, on “The Right to Information: Challenges in making it more effective” at Loyola golden jubilee auditorium at St. Xavier’s High School Loyola Hall.
The speakers included chief information commissioner (Centre) Wajahat Habibullah and Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) founder Harinesh Pandya. They talked about the effectiveness and challenges of RTI. Father Cedric Prakash, director of Prashant, and human rights activist Teesta Setalvad were present.
Habibullah quoted some figures from a study of RTI users. “Nearly 40% of RTI users are not very educated. 10% people in rural areas and 30% in urban areas are aware of the Act and using it.
Surprisingly, only 2.5% and 2% of young people in rural and urban areas respectively know and participate in the RTI activity. As the RTI is for the future generation, we should make young people aware about the Act and its power,” he said.
The CIC further said, “RTI Act of India is one of the strongest Acts on the disclosure of information mechanisms in the world. Though the speed of implementation of RTI is slow, it is faster than many other laws. However, there is a lot to be done for RTI Act in terms of awareness.”
Pandya said, “How to broaden the user base of RTI is one of the challenges to this Act. The Act is in the fifth year of its implementation and nearly 4.5 to 5 crore people in the country have filed RTI applications. Out of this, 3.5 to 3.75 lakh are in Gujarat, yet the common people are not much aware about it. In Gujarat, out of total RTI users 70% are from rural areas and 30% are from urban areas.”
He further said, “Public Information Officers (PIOs) are feeling victimised by the Act as they have to face pressure from their bosses, from the RTI applicants and from the state information commission. There is a need for capacity building of PIOs.”
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