Jammu, Apr 27: Chief Information Commissioner G R Sufi on Wednesday said the Public Information Officers cannot afford to hold back information which they are supposed to provide to the applicant.
 “Besides making people aware about the RTI Act, the bureaucracy and the officials should also be well versed with the law. He said that the Public Information Officers cannot afford to hold back information which they are supposed to provide to the applicant,” Sufi said addressing awareness-cum-interactive session on Right to Information (RTI) Act organised by the Institute of Public Opinion (IPO) here.
 Sufi said that RTI is a valuable tool in the hands of every citizen of the country to seek any piece of information from Government authorities. He said that today people can not only ask a government official or department to answer any query but also force them to take action.
 Sufi stressed upon the need for creating massive awareness among the public so that more and more people come forward to seek information under the Act to safeguard their interests.
 Divisional Commissioner Jammu Dr Pawan Kotwal, Senior Advocate D. C. Raina, Chairman IPO Arun K. Gupta also delivered detail lectures on the topic.
 Dr Kotwal said that the need of the hour is to create awareness among the masses about this most important citizen friendly Act i.e Right To Information Act which can be used as a tool for the welfare of the general masses.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 IST