BHUBANESWAR: Even after 17 years of its inception, the Right to Information (RTI) Act is dying a slow but a certain death. Between 40 lakh and 60 lakh RTI applications are filed every year, but less than 3 per cent of Indian citizens have ever filed an RTI plea, said experts at th RTI Day celebration organised by RTI Clinic, a city-based forum, on Wednesday.
“The anti-corruption law will become obsolete if we don’t use it on a greater scale. More use of RTI by citizens will certainly reduce the attack on RTI activists who expose corruption,” said former State Information Commissioner Jagadananda while inaugurating the event.
He called for use of the law at the grassroots level and a sustained awareness campaign among the citizens including tribals about RTI Act.Former bureaucrat Sribhusan Sukla said the government should make the administration’s work so transparent that there is minimum requirement to file RTI applications.