Workshops for Nodal Officers on RTI

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to organise workshops for nodal officers in-charge of Right to Information (RTI) in various departments and districts during the year.This was decided at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik at the Secretariat recently. The Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Department has been asked to scale up awareness building and capacity enhancement activities in campaign mode. Official sources said that ` 61 lakh has been provided to the department for these activities.Decision has also been taken to develop e- Ranking system of departments and districts on the compliance of the RTI Act.Accordingly, four categories viz 90 to 100% , 70 to 90 % , 50 to 70 % and below 50% have been devised.The Chief Secretary has asked the secretary of I & PR Department to make a review of districts lagging behind in this matter and suggest measures for boosting their performance.The I&PR Department, the nodal department for implementation of the Act, has been awarded with India e-Governance award, 2010, e-India Award, 2010, and IT award for best IT Service. The Central Monitoring Mechanism (CMM) for implementation of the Act operating in I & PR Dept has also been awarded by NIC for having complied with Indian Govt Website Guide Lines. The World Bank has acclaimed CMM as impressive.In assessment of compliance to recommendations of the second Administrative Reform Commission, Odisha, has also acquired a leading position. Odisha is the first state to have implemented all its recommendations with regard to developing a single portal for disclosure of all public authorities, appropriate access to State Information Commission, a CMM to ensure effective implementation of the Act.