RTI activists oppose withdrawal of G.O.s from online mode

‘The move is against the guidelines of the RTI Act’

Activists of the Right to Information Act have appealed to the State government to put all G.O.s in the public domain as keeping them offline was against the guidelines of the RTI Act-2005. They said that the government’s recent decision to not post the G.O.s online would lead to large-scale corruption and denial of the people’s right to have access to information. According to them, the government started keeping the G.O.s on the websites of the respective departments since 2008 when Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. The system ensured transparency in administration although the government put some of them in confidential category. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s State convener for Right to Information (RTI) wing Vengamamba Srinivas said that the RTI Act was enacted to enable people to express their views after obtaining information from the respective departments. “People can express their view points on the administration when they have access to government orders. The A.P. government’s latest decision leads to many doubts over its intention. We have no other option except approaching the High Court over the issue,” said Mr. Srinivas.