Hyderabad

Callingfor greater uniformity in the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act across the country, Telangana Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on Thursday urged Information Commissions and government departments to strengthen proactive disclosure, leverage technology and ensure faster and more effective access to information for citizens. Inaugurating the two-day national conference on “RTI: Operational Uniformity in Implementation – Challenges and Solutions” at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad, the Governor said the effectiveness of the RTI regime should be assessed not merely by the number of applications and appeals disposed of, but by the extent to which it had enhanced transparency and accountability in governance.

He emphasised the need to give greater importance to proactive disclosure under Section 4 of the RTI Act, saying government departments should move from a system of providing information only on request to one in which relevant and updated information is routinely placed in the public domain.