NEW DELHI: In a bid to improve transparency and accountability in the government, the government is looking to make effective use of the Right of Information (RTI) Act and for this purpose, representatives from civil society and journalists will be roped in.
The government, through the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), has decided to offer short-term fellowship to researchers from the field of media, journalism and civil society organisations associated with the transparency law to assess voluntary disclosures by Central government ministries. The DoPT is the nodal agency for the RTI Act.
According to sources, attempts are being to with an objective to contribute towards better understanding of the success of RTI and constraints in its implementation. A DoPT order said, “The primary goal of the scheme is to contribute towards more accountable and transparent government and it has several components, including programmes for awareness generation, training and e-governance initiatives for RTI to achieve the purpose.”
An official said that it could be in the nature of a monograph of about 10,000 words which is ready for publication or features, news or investigative stories that could be printed or published as a journalistic piece in national and international media or in the case of professionals from the field of audio-video media, it could even be short video films or stories.
According to the order, issued by the DoPT on Friday, the copyright of the research output will vest in the government of India which may publish and use it in any other way for strengthening the working of the RTI regime in the country. Each selected fellow will receive a stipend of `2 lakh, including a grant of up to `50,000 for books, research material, travel, printing, production of creatives etc.