CIC cancels annual RTI Event, to hold smaller seminars
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Oct 12, 2017, 01.34 AM IST
NEW DELHI: For the first time in 12 years since the Right to Information Act came into effect, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has decided not to hold the annual RTI Convention that marks the anniversary celebrations of the transparency legislation.
Slated for October, the convention is inaugurated by the PM, who gives a speech and sets the agenda for the mega event. It has been the only formal interaction between the CIC and various stakeholders. However, CIC has decided to skip it this year, choosing to hold smaller issue-based seminars instead of an annual event. "It is not cancelled. Instead of one annual convention we are having issue-based quarterly meetings concentrating on one issue," CIC secretary Anjali Anand Srivastava told ET.
CIC held a meeting on implementation of RTI Act in May and a seminar on land reforms in July, Srivastava said. "We are following this in the current year," she said, but pointed out that this is not a set format.
Opposing the CIC’s decision, RTI activists said this would reduce the space for discussion on the transparency law. "The annual convention has been the only formal platform where the government, information commissions and the civil society interacted to discuss challenges in implementation of RTI," said Anjali Bhardwaj, co-convener of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information.
"The annual convention has been the only formal platform where the government, information commissions and the civil society interacted to discuss challenges in implementation of RTI. For the last few years we have been asking the commission for better ways to interact with civil society at the convention. But the response has been to cancel the convention altogether." The part of the event most people watched out for has been the PM’s speech as it indicates the government’s intentions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the 2015 convention was lauded by RTI activists as he said that Right to Information should really be the "right to question" the government.
Venkatesh Nayak, programme coordinator at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said: "CIC appears to have not organised any major events to mark RTI anniversary. However, CIC has been holding small-scale events of less than a day’s length on thematic issues related to RTI."
Slated for October, the convention is inaugurated by the PM, who gives a speech and sets the agenda for the mega event. It has been the only formal interaction between the CIC and various stakeholders. However, CIC has decided to skip it this year, choosing to hold smaller issue-based seminars instead of an annual event. "It is not cancelled. Instead of one annual convention we are having issue-based quarterly meetings concentrating on one issue," CIC secretary Anjali Anand Srivastava told ET.
CIC held a meeting on implementation of RTI Act in May and a seminar on land reforms in July, Srivastava said. "We are following this in the current year," she said, but pointed out that this is not a set format.
Opposing the CIC’s decision, RTI activists said this would reduce the space for discussion on the transparency law. "The annual convention has been the only formal platform where the government, information commissions and the civil society interacted to discuss challenges in implementation of RTI," said Anjali Bhardwaj, co-convener of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information.
"The annual convention has been the only formal platform where the government, information commissions and the civil society interacted to discuss challenges in implementation of RTI. For the last few years we have been asking the commission for better ways to interact with civil society at the convention. But the response has been to cancel the convention altogether." The part of the event most people watched out for has been the PM’s speech as it indicates the government’s intentions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the 2015 convention was lauded by RTI activists as he said that Right to Information should really be the "right to question" the government.
Venkatesh Nayak, programme coordinator at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said: "CIC appears to have not organised any major events to mark RTI anniversary. However, CIC has been holding small-scale events of less than a day’s length on thematic issues related to RTI."
