Law College Dehradun, under the aegis of its Moot Court Society, organized a Workshop on RTI on 26th April, 2018. Issues related to challenges faced by RTI activists and public authorities in revealing necessary information were thoroughly discussed in the Workshop. The Chief Guest on the occasion was Shri Rajendra Kothiyal, Information Commissioner of Uttarakhand and the Keynote Speakers were Dr. Suchismita Sengupta Pandey, Secretary of N.F.S.A Commission and Dr. B. P. Maithani, President-R.T.I Club.
Dr. Suchismita Sengupta Pandey in her speech discussed the revolutionary aspects of RTI. She mentioned that the Act should be made more effective so as to ensure political and administrative transparency as well as accountability. She said that it is imperative to take into account the pros and cons of the Act so as to make it more effective.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. B. P. Maithani raised the challenges before the RTI activists. He stated that the RTI activists are often threatened and subjected to physical assaults which are detrimental for the effective implementation of RTI Act. He stressed on the need of an initiative from the end of the government towards provision of adequate protection to the RTI activists. He also stated that RTI should be protected from the corrupt practices of politicians and bureaucrats to prevent its misuse.
Shri Rajendra Kothiyal in his address offered valuable tips concerning the RTI Act. He emphasised on the need to educate the Public Information Officers so as to ensure the effectiveness of the Act. He mentioned that senior officers instead of junior officers should be appointed as PIO’s in Uttarakhand.
Prior to the Workshop an Essay Competition was also organized in which about 300 students participated exhibiting their knowledge related to RTI. Isha, Mehrul and Ojaswa Dev Jha secured the First, Second and Third Position respectively. Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. (Dr.) N. K. Joshi gave away the cash prizes and certificates to the winners.
The Workshop culminated in the presence of Prof. (Dr.) Rajesh Bahuguna, Dr. Poonam Rawat (Head of the Department – Law), Mr. Kumar Ashutosh, Dr. Vijay Srivastava, Mrs. V. Bhuvneshwari, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Mr. Razit Sharma, Mr. Vaibhav Uniyal & Mr. Ujjwal Singh.
