Right to Information is essential: Chief Information Commissioner

Ongole: The Right to Information helps you to think, express an opinion and take a decision as per the Constitution, said Chief Information Commissioner Madabhushi Sridhar Acharyulu. He was the chief guest at a training programme on “Indian Constitution and Right to Information Act” organised jointly by the Ekalavya Foundation, Ongole and the Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, New Delhi.

Delivering the key note address here on Wednesday, Sridhar said, “The basis and foundation for the liberty of thought are in the Constitution. If you have the liberty of thought, you will start questioning for information. When you do not allow your son to question you, he will not question anyone else and the next generation will become ignorant.”

He said that we should have a system where the privacy and transparency help in progress of the society. Being a person is not enough for the country but being a citizen with knowledge of rights and responsibilities, is required. A citizen is a person who has the spirit of the Constitution and questions the system when a wrong decision is taken by it.

The technology of telegram helped the British suppress the first freedom movement in 1857, but another factor also helped them win and it was the dishonesty of our people. It was the cooperation of our people with them that made the British rule in India possible for so many years, he lamented.

Sridhar warned the public not to misuse the Right to Information Act. He said, “We should use the Right to Information very carefully and not misuse it for settling personal scores or for blackmailing activities. There are forces on the prowl to make the Right to Information Act dysfunctional.”

The district revenue officer N Prabhakar Reddy, programme officer of Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, Rajeev Nirmal, representatives of Ekalavya Foundation, and volunteers of the Right to Information Act Natukula Srinivasa Rao, Jayaprakash, Meda Lokesh, Surendra Babu, Sanyasi Rao and others were also present.