How to cut RTI plea count? Sachin Pilot has answer

What an idea, sirji! Sachin Pilot, Union minister of state for communication and information technology, advocated on Tuesday using mobile phones to disseminate information among people.

He said this would bring down the number of right to information (RTI) applications by half as most information would be readily available to the people.

Since the RTI Act came into force in 2005, CIC has received nearly 65,000 pleas, of which around 54,000 have been disposed of.

“There are more than 65 crore mobile users in India. Mobiles can be a fantastic medium for the government to voluntarily disseminate information to people,” Pilot told ‘DNA’, stressing the need to develop a mechanism to make the plan a success.
He was talking on the sidelines of the fifth annual convention on RTI organised by Central Information Commission (CIC) in New Delhi.

The two-day convention was attended by information commissioners from various states, representatives of a number of civil society groups and RTI activists. Key architects of the RTI Act, such as Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, were, however, conspicuous by their absence. CIC sources said they were invited to the convention, but chose not to attend.

The main theme of the convention was challenges and opportunities before the RTI Act and proactive disclosure by the government, as mandated by section 4 of the Act, emerged as the main talking point.

All present agreed alike that if proactive disclosure by government departments improved, the number of RTI applications would come down substantially. They expressed concern at the lack of awareness about the RTI Act among people, especially in rural areas, and threats to and attacks on RTI activists.