Officials Trained on Effective Implementation of RTI Provisions at District Level

Nabarangpur, March, 17: A one-day district-level training workshop on the Right to Information Act, 2005 was organized today by the District Information and Public Relations Office at the Mission Shakti Conference Hall in Nabarangpur.

The workshop was held under the chairmanship of Yadumani Nayak, Additional Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad. Eminent speakers included advocate Kishori Pattanayak and advocate Purnachandra Mahapatra, who delivered detailed insights on the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

District Information and Public Relations Officer Manoj Behera welcomed all participants and explained the objectives of the workshop while conducting the proceedings.

State-level RTI expert Rashmi Ranjan Raut, invited from Bhubaneswar, provided comprehensive training through a PowerPoint presentation. He elaborated on various provisions of the RTI Act, procedures for filing applications, timelines for providing information, proactive disclosure of 17 categories of information on official government websites, responsibilities of the First Appellate Authority, legal procedures to be followed if an application is rejected, prescribed application fees and charges for copies, maintenance of a separate bank account for RTI-related fees, and third-party audits.

The speakers and the chairperson emphasized that the RTI Act is a mirror of transparent governance. They stated that with greater transparency and accountability in administration, the RTI Act would become stronger, and government officials should be more responsible in providing information to the public.

Public Information Officers and Assistant Public Information Officers from various district-level offices, senior citizens, and students from degree colleges and higher secondary schools participated in the workshop and received training on the RTI Act.

Certificates and cash prizes were awarded by the chairperson to winners of college-level English and speech competitions organized to create awareness about the RTI Act.
Among those present were Deputy Collectors Manmohan Sahu and Samina Akhtari, Assistant Collector Shiva Shankar Padhi, DSO and DLO officials, senior citizens Radhanath Behera, Ram Murti Pattanayak, Vijay Choudhury, Manoroma Majhi, and members of the media.