PM to inaugurate CIC convention on Oct 16

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the annual convention of Central Information Commission (CIC) here on October 16 during which issues pertaining to the Right to Information Act will be discussed on its 10th anniversary.

Initially, Modi was not to inaugurate the event as he was scheduled to address rallies in poll-bound Bihar, sources said.

The programme in Bihar has got changed, the sources said today, adding the Prime Minister will now inaugurate the CIC convention.

According to the earlier plan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was to address the inaugural function.

The one-and-a-half-day long programme will have 4-5 technical sessions. The topics for the sessions will cover implementation and the strengthening of various aspects of the RTI Act.

The Commission has also planned to have state-level workshops in the build-up to the annual convention.

The Right to Information Act came into force on October 12, 2005 after a long struggle by activists. It was lauded as the most empowering law passed by Parliament where any citizen could seek any information, barring prohibited ones, from the government on a mere payment of Rs 10.

The information should be provided within 30 days but with the bureaucracy showing reluctance to share even ordinary pieces of information, the pendency of cases at the CIC has gone up to 35,000.

Last year, there was no convention because there was no Chief Information Commissioner, who happens to be administrative head of the Commission and oversees preparations of the function.