Title - Information Commissioner Praises CR's e-RTI Initiative

Central Railway
Press Release

CR held a Seminar o­n RTI Act 2005 at Chhatrpati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai o­n 1.6.2012.  Smt. Annapurna Dixit, Information Commissioner in Central Information Commission, delivered the keynote address o­n the occasion. A detailed presentation o­n RTI Act 2005 was made by Shri Tarun Kumar, Jt. Secretary, Central Information Commission.

In his opening remarks, Shri Subodh Jain, General Manager, Central Railway  informed the seminar that there is a consistant increase in the number of RTI applications filed o­n CR in the last few years.  During 2011-12, CR has dealt with 8147 initial applications, 1344 first appeals and 175 second appeals.  He informed that a concept of e-RTI has been implemented in all the divisions, workshops and departments o­n CR and under which every initial RTI application is forwarded or transferred to all 27 Public Information Officers o­n line and is tracked o­n line.  This has enabled improved monitoring and reduced the paperwork. CR has also got its core team dealing with RTI queries trained at Institute of Public Administration, Bengaluru.  In addition CR is publishing inhouse news magazine “Prabhodini” exclusively dedicated to RTI issues.

During her keynote address, Smt. Dixit praised railways for voluntarily disclosing considerable information o­n their websites, and desired that public authorities should disclose more and more information voluntarily.  She opined that RTI Act is “a boon rather than a headache” and is an instrument in the hands of the common citizen for seeking more transparency and accountability from the public authorities.  She also stated that there was no reason to believe that functioning of government departments is impeded due to RTI queries.  Referring to current developments about RTI, she suggested that in case of Projects taken up o­n PPP basis, the Government departments should build in their contracts with Private Partner a “disclosure clause” which will facilitate giving information to the public.

Shri Tarun Kumar’s presentation focussed o­n salient provisions of RTI Act including third party information, need for increased voluntary disclosure by various public authorities, penal provisions against erring public information officers, etc.  Current case law as well as case studies from across various departments were also discussed.

The seminar was attended by entire team of PIOs and APIOs from all the Divisions, Workshops and departments and senior officials of Central Railway.

On the occasion, third instalment of CR’s RTI inhouse magazine “Prabodini” was released at the hands of Smt. Dixit.

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Date: June 1, 2012

This news comes to you from the Public Relations Department, Central Railway, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai.