New Delhi, Dec 03: The instances of people using the Right to Information Act have been increased in the recent times and this landmark legislation has forced the bureaucracy to shed its colonial mindset on holding government files, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah today said.
"More people are using the
RTI Act to get information. It is only in ten per cent cases where information is not provided. The commission has imposed a penalty on such cases," Habibullah said at a function here.
There should be "no cloak of secrecy in matters where public interest is involved", he said adding, "the colonial mindset of bureaucracy was changing after the passage of the act".
Magsaysay winner and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, however, critisiced the government saying that the RTI act was being used as safety valve by it. "The CIC is a body which can change the history of the nation, but unfortunately, it is acting as an agent of government," he alleged. (The emphasis is mine--Ganpat)
He also said in a number of instances, information was being denied on one ground or another, even by the
CIC itself.
He also emphasised the need for simplifying the act so that common people can use it.
Zee News - RTI forcing bureaucracy to change colonial mindset: CIC