Govt.committed to transparency in governance: Dr. Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Dr. Jitendra Singh said here today that government is committed to ensure transparency in governance.

Interacting with a three-member delegation of "Right to Information Assessment and Advocacy Group", an organization of RTI activists, here, Dr.Singh said transparency is a part and parcel of the "good governance" concept.

He further stated that during the last six months, several important measures have been adopted to make the governance easy and more accountable.

He referred to a recent decision to have a single self-attested affidavit which eliminates the requirement for attestation by gazetted officer, notary or a similar other authority. In addition, all the major government decisions are now being uploaded on the website.

Dr.Singh said that while there are separate cells or divisions to handle RTI complaints in different departments of Central Government, the State Governments are also being encouraged to adopt the RTI Act in its most effective form.

The delegation pointed out that some issues still required the government's attention, including backlog of complaints and appeals in information commissions, poor implementation of Section-4 of the RTI Act and low level of public awareness about the RTI Law, especially in rural areas.

Dr.Singh said that it is imperative for both the government and the public-spirited activists to work jointly together to ease the problems of the people.

The delegation comprised of Anjali Bhardwaj, Amrita Johri and Mr. Nikhil Dey.