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State govt decisions from 2005 will be publicMUMBAI, Jul 28, 2009 (Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- From September 1, state departments and organisations have to provide you details of all government decisions -- taken after October 2005 -- or face action. Documents will include land records, budgets of departments, concessions, permits, minutes of meetings and decisions taken after October 2005, when the law came into effect. For example, you can find out why the plot next to your house was given to a particular builder and for how much. The state government has asked all its departments to get their act together by August 31, and also regularly update their websites and records, as mentioned in the Right To Information (RTI) Act, 2005. They can do this through the Internet or newspapers, by keeping records in a public library, or by appointing an officer to maintain a room for such records. The move -- that aims to curb corruption -- will make all government decisions, except those classified confidential, available for public scrutiny. "Section 4 of the RTI Act has 17 points which have to be followed by every public authority as an obligatory duty. Along with this, an officer in each department was to be appointed within 120 days from enactment of the Act. But with no system in place, this has not happened in many cases," said Thanksy Thekkekera, principal secretary of the General Administration Department who is in charge of matters related to the RTI Act. To see more of the Hindustan Times or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hindustantimes.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Hindustan Times, New Delhi Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |