PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS REQUIRED TO STUDY THE ACT CAREFULLY AND UNDERSTAND IT'S PROVISIONS CORRECTLY, IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE TO APPLICANTS/ACTIVISTS/ COMMON MAN TAKING BENEFITS OF THE EMPOWERMENT

The public information officer of a public authority plays an important role in effective implementation of the provisions of the right to information Act, 2005 . At the same time he is liable for penalty in case of default in performance of duties assigned to him by the Act. It is therefore, crucial for a public information officer to study the Act carefully and understand it's 

provisions correctly. The Act provides that a public information officer may take the Assistance of any other officer for proper discharge of his/her duties. Such other officer would be deemed to be a public information officer and would be liable for contraventions of the provisions of the Act, the same way as the public information officer himself. Since the public information officer may seek the assistance of any officer, it is desirable for all the officers to acquire necessary knowledge about the provisions of the Act, which a public information officer should have. The right to information Act, 2005 empowers citizens to get information from any public authority for which the public information officer of the public authority plays a pivotal role in making the right of a citizen to information a reality. The Act casts specific duties on him and makes him liable for penalty in case of delay and dereliction of duty, so public information officer should have careful understanding of the provisions made and acquire necessary knowledge, up to the possible extent of help them in this task. At the same time central and the state governments are obliged to create awareness about the provisions of the Act. Financial assistance under this component will be provided to supplant these efforts of state Government. Keeping in view the demand under public service/utility for the awareness drive various groups and societies are working for the innovative awareness generation activities, distance learning events and meetings and awareness generation regarding Appeals before the FAA and SIC or CIC as the case may be failing which correct, complete and accurate vision of the Right to information could not be obtained from the public authorities as number of public information officers are issuing misleading informations to the applicants and creating problems in the timely review and revision of the RTI development programme and social audit for the good governance and transparency in administration:- Er Fateh chand Guleria, Director RTI welfare Association registered number HPCD, 3552 , Bilaspur Himachal pradesh phone number 9459334377