PIO should be punished for not providing info: Kejriwal

PIO should be punished for not providing info: Kejriwal
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, OCT 12
“The Information Commission (IF) should not let a Public Information Officer (PIO) off the hook who err in providing information sought under the Right to Information Act (RTI) by the applicant. There is no option but to punish him as stipulated under the Act when he deny information sought under the Act,” said Arvind Kejriwal, Magasaysay Awadee and RTI activist while participating in a daylong seminar organised today.
The seminar on “Right to Information – strengthening participatory democracy” was organised by Media information and Communication centre of the Goa International Centre.
Kejriwal though complained about implementation of the Act in other State he expressed satisfaction about its implementation.
 “Goa is a pioneer in implementing RTI,” he said.
Speaking about greater utility of the RTI Act, he said it should not be limited to accessing information for exposing corrupt ion in the government offices. An important aspect of the RTI Act, is it should be used in knowing about government policies and programmes for strengthening democratic process in the country.
Participating in the discussion Motilal Keny, State Chief Information Commissioner of Goa, said there has been positive change in the usage of RTI Act for getting information in the State.
The number of people seeking information under the RTI has gone up as also people going in for appeals, he said. 
Ramakant Khalap, Chairman of the Law Commission suggested Non Government Organisation (NGOs) and other social organizations should work in co-ordination for getting information under RTI.