Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) Punjab organised a 2-day training programme for Public Information Officers (PIOs), Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) and Concerned Staff of different departments of District Fatehgarh Sahib under Right to Information Act, 2005 at Bachat Bhawan, Fatehgarh Sahib which concluded here today. About 30 participants took part in this programme involving huge public interest.Mr. Charanjit Singh, Assistant Commissioner (General), Fatehgarh Sahib while presiding the valediction ceremony of the event today said that the RTI Act is a significant pro-people instrument aiming to bring about transparency and accountability in administration, besides containing the tendency of corrupt practices. He said that this is also an important tool for empowerment of the common man and encouraged the officers to update their knowledge about this Act on the basis of knowledge imparted by the RTI experts in this 2-day programme. He also asked the officers to give information available in official records and adhere to the time schedule provided in the Act. He also presented participation certificate to the functionaries who joined this two days programme.Sh. Jarnail Singh, Course Director (RTI) MGSIPA, Chandigarh while highlighting the importance of RTI Act, 2005 said that these training programmes have been sponsored by Ministry of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Govt. of India which aims to sensitise the concerned officers about the Act and also to make them aware about the latest developments based on the Judgments of the Central/State Information Commissions.
He said that MGSIPA Institute organises over 250 programmes in a year on various subject like RTI, Sevottom, Office Procedure, Civil Service Rules, Induction Training Programme (ITP), COMMIT, Financial Management, Soft Skills & etc. Besides proving consultancy, publications and dissemination of ideas/information in an integrated manner. A pool of resource person, experts, of eminence in various disciplines are associated with training programme. He expressed his gratitude to the Municipal Corporation Management.Eminent RTI expert Sh. DC Gupta, IDAS (Retd.), Dr. Shiv Kumar Dogra, Coordinator of Law and Dr. Vaishali Thakur, Professor of Law, P.U. Regional Centre, Ludhiana, Sh. Yashpaul Manvi, Assistant Director (Retd.), Pb. School Education Dept. and Ms. Ekta Gupta, Research Associate, MGSIPA were delivered lecture on salient features, overall view of the RTI Act, Background of Enactment of RTI Act and Section 1,2,3, Suo-Moto Disclosure of Information by Public Authority (Section 4), Appointment of PIOs, APIOs, First Appellate Authority by Public Authority, Request for obtaining information, disposal of request (Section 5,6,7), Exemptions from Disclosures etc., Third Party Information (Section 8,9,10,11), Constitution of State Information Commission, Terms & Conditions of Service, Removal of Information Commissioners (Section 15,16,17), Filing of Complaints & Appeals with State Information Commission, Imposition of Penalty & Grant of Compensation (Section 18,19,20), Protection of Action, Overriding effect of RTI Act, Bar of Jurisdiction of Courts, Organizations exempted from RTI Act & Misc. (Section 21 to 31), Punjab RTI Rules, 2017, Case Study & Quiz on RTI Act, 2005.On the first day of training programme, Sh. Amarjeet Singh Sodhi, Project Coordinator, MGSIPA Regional Centre, Patiala was introduced about training programme.