These govt offices get it all wrong in helping commoners use RTI

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN /28 July/Rajkot: It would be a nightmarish experience for those who want to seek some information from some important government establishments in Rajkot, like regional transport office, civil hospital and railway station. Even four years after the Right to Information Act (RTI) was formed, several government offices are completely passive about helping people get information under the Act. TOI visited many offices only to find that RTI seekers were facing difficulties, right from searching for the public information officer. As per RTI Act, public authority should make all the facilities available to citizens for obtaining information that includes names, designations and other particulars of PIOs. Some of the offices visited by this correspondent included regional transport office, railway station, Rajkot Civil Hospital, Rasulkhanki Janana Hospital and taluka panchayat. There was information put in public display to guide RTI applicants about PIO and nowhere was the manual of RTI Act seen. Regional transport officer. M K Bhoj was also unsure of the facilities. “I think we have put all the things in place but still, I need to check it out,” he said.