Dear Friends I am writing this mail to inform you about the National RTI Awards to be given this year. National RTI Awards will be given every year beginning from 2009. The Awards will try to find out and felicitate those persons, who have shown exemplary commitments towards RTI Act, 2005. The awards will be given in three different categories- Best Information Commissioner, Best Public Information Officer, and Award in Citizen's Category. All Information Commissioners are automatic nominees for the award, but the nominations for other two categories are now open. *The last date of nominations is 30th June 2009*. You can visit RTI awards' website www.rtiawards.org for more details. You can also call RTI awards Helpline 09711222577 or send email to [email protected].
Despite the power of RTI to transform Indian democracy, RTI Act faces stiff opposition from many sections of the government, particularly the bureaucracy. For example many Officers are not performing satisfactorily. Some Information Commissioners, who are the final adjudicating authority under the Act, are perceived to be sympathetic to bureaucrats. But there are many among the bureaucrats who are committed to transparency and honesty. They go over and beyond the call of duty to implement the RTI Act in letter and spirit. The intent of National RTI is to honour and recognise the best among these officers and commissioners. We hope that by recognising their contribution they can serve as role models for the bureaucratic community as a whole and encourage others to follow in their footsteps and strive to emulate their achievements. The awards will also serve as an opportunity to gather valuable data about the performance of a large number of PIOs and Information Commissioners across the country. This data can go a long way in identifying shortcomings in the current system of RTI and suggesting possible reforms. Beginning from this year, National RTI Awards will be given in three different Categories- Best Information Commissioner, Best Public Information Officer and Citizens Award. The awards will be given sometimes in November 2009. A National Level dignitary will be the chief guest for the RTI Awards Ceremony. The RTI Awards Ceremony will take place in Delhi in the month of November 2009. Final date and venue of the ceremony will be announced later. All Information Commissioners from all Information Commissions, who have been appointed prior to December 2008 and have been officiating as Information Commissioner during the calender Year 2008 are self nominees for Best Information Commissioner Category. Nominations are open for the Best Public Information Officer and for Award for Citizens category. Nominations can be filed by 30th June 2009. In these two categories for nomination- nominations can be filed by the self or you can also nominate any other person as well. On-line nominations can be made on the website www.rtiawards.org before last date of nomination. But the supporting documents for on-line nominations can be sent through post to RTI awards Secretariat, Public Cause Research Foundation, A-119 (First Floor), Kaushambi, Ghaziabad- 201010 before 7th July 2009. Forms for nomination in these categories can also be downloaded from the website www.rtiawards.org and fully filled forms along with supporting documents can be sent to reach the above address by 30th June 2009. If you have been using the RTI Act and your applications or efforts have made any public impact, then I request you to please nominate yourself for this award. You can also nominate other persons, who have shown exemplary commitment towards RTI Act. If you also know any Public Information Officer, who has done commendable job in implementing RTI Act, you can also nominate them. Please circulate this mail to other members of your group so that more and more people can know about the awards. Warmly Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar Please think about the environment and do not print this e-mail unless you really need to. Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar, Advocate Public Cause Research Foundation Tel/ Fax: +91 120 277 1017 Cell: +91 9868002365, +91 9971519209 Email: [email protected], [email protected] www.pcrf.in www.parivartan.com www.righttoinformation.org Visit me at www.jaipuriar.com National RTI Helpline No. +91 9718100180 Notice: The information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachment(s) to it may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachment(s) to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me by reply e-mail or telephone and immediately & permanently delete the message and any attachment(s). Before opening any mail and attachment(s) please check them for viruses and defect. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
