"Right to Information - Master key to good governance"-
the Information Commission should be entrusted with the authority and responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the RTI Act in all public authorities.
New Delhi | June 10, 2006 1:15:13 AM IST
http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20060610/358554.html
The second Administrative Reforms Commission has suggested that the Official Secrets Act (OSA) of 1923 should be repealed, saying it is incongruous with the regime of transparency in a democratic society.
The commission chaired by senior Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily submitted its first report on "Right to Information - Master key to good governance" to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, making several other recommendations for the effective implementation of the Right to Information Act (RTI), an official release said here Friday.
The report said suitable safeguards for the security of state should be incorporated in the National Security Act.
The commission recommended that at least half the members of the Information Commissions should be drawn from non-civil service background, "so that members represent the rich variety and varied experience in society".
"Complete reorganisation of public records is a precondition for effective implementation of RTI. A Public Records Office should be established in each state as a repository of expertise, to monitor, supervise, control and inspect all public records," it held.
It stressed that the Information Commission should be entrusted with the authority and responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the RTI Act in all public authorities.
It also sought "clear and unambiguous guidelines" to determine which non-governmental organisations should come under the purview of the Act.
The commission recommended that the states should establish "independent public grievance redressal authorities".
A crucial law for the promotion of transparency and accountability from the government, the RTI Act of 2005 allows citizens to demand information (in the form of records, documents, samples, orders etc.) from the government regarding any government department or office.
Central intelligence and security agencies are exempted from the purview of this act. (IANS)
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