Bhubaneswar, December19: Information dissemination should become everybody's business and the cost of doing so should be inbuilt into project costs. It should be viewed as a tool of empowerment in a democratic set-up, said Shri R.BaJakrishnan, Commissioner and Secretary, I & PR, Government of Orissa while speaking at a two-day state level consultation on "Right to Information" on December 18 & 19 at Bhubaneswar. The consultative meeting was hosted by the Centre for Youth & Social Development in collaboration with the New Delhi-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an international non-government organisation promoting the practical realisation of human rights of ordinary citizens in the Commonwealth. On the occasion he announced that the state government has constituted a Task Force that is working out a Right to Information Bill for the state.

The objective of the two-day meet was to discuss the need for legislation on Right to Information in the existing governance as well as deliberate on the role of the civil society in taking the issue forward through their own work in their regions. Retd. Judge Hon'ble Justice Shri Lingaraj Rath who was present as a guest speaker exhorted the need to make the Right to Information a Fundamental Right as it would become enforceable by the Court of Law and recognised by the government. He said that the country is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognises individual and institutional Right to Information, it is yet to become a Law of the land. A strong movement shou1d be initiated to enact a pro-people Central Right to Information legislation.

Shri L.C.Amarnathan. Addl. DG (police) and 1G (Prisons) spoke about the responsibility of the information seeker. He said that the Bill if enacted should be reviewed once in every 10 years to examine the kind of information people really look for and what more they are clamoring for. He viewed that it is perhaps the technological achievement that has spurred the imagination of people and made them understand the value of information and enabled them to demand it as a Right.

On the occasion, a social activist Shri Chitta Behera presented a draft on the Orissa Right to Information Act, 2002. The Draft Bill stated that subject to provisions of the Act, every member of the public shall have right to obtain information from a competent authority by way of inspecting records, taking notes or extracts manually or by photocopying, by obtaining photocopies of any records or by obtaining diskettes, floppies or any other electronic device. The draft bill has also suggested a penalty for the delay, denial and wrong information.

Regarding the role of civil society, it was decided that the Law would be discussed at Palli Sabhas by relating the importance of the Law to the critical local issues. Voluntary agencies, non-government organizations and social activists need to launch extensive campaigns like workshops where experiences would be shared with people, information boards would be set up, training would be imparted to local leaders, especially the youth, to outsource information to people, use posters and charts as well as local and traditional media such as song and dance drama to convey information about the Law. Moreover, the role of local newspapers and radio would be strengthened to write and broadcast the issue on a sustained basis.

The event witnessed interactions amongst representatives from a cross-section of professions like NGOs, academia, media and government. At least 60 participants were present on the two-day consultative meeting.