J&K Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development organises interactive session on RTI Act

SRINAGAR – The J&K Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPARD) today organized an interactive session on Right to Information Act (RTI) for the JKAS (Probationer) officers batch 2019, First Appellate Authorities, PIOs and APIOs here.

Central Information Commissioner, Neeraj Kumar Gupta was the chief guest on the occasion. DG IMPARD, Saurabh Bhagat and Secretary in Forest, Ecology and Environment Department, Narinder Singh Bali were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Neeraj Kumar Gupta said that the RTI is a wonderful platform which can act as a feedback mechanism for all the government departments and other establishments of public importance. He added that RTI should be treated as a yardstick of effective governance and should be analyzed for its efficient functioning and transparency.

While highlighting about different provisions of RTI through a powerpoint presentation, Neeraj Kumar underlined the importance of proper monitoring of RTI applications, functioning of CPIOs and other appellate authorities. He further said that RTI is a tool for empowering the citizens of the country and make them aware about the progress and prospects of the administration.

The Central Information Commissioner further said that RTI is an instrument of self-actualization and recognition with public authorities and they should not act as a tool of obstruction of information and claim exemptions only in bonafide cases.

DG IMPARD, Saurabh Bhagat while speaking on the occasion, highlighted about the role of IMPARD in organising training programmes and interactive sessions which are useful for the budding officers in the field.

He added that the institute will keep on organising such programmes which will act as the tools of improving governance and administrative machinery in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.