Decentralisation key, says new info chief of Maharashtra

TIMES NEWS NETWORK, Pune: Newly-appointed state information commissioner Vijay Kuvalekar has emphasised the significance of decentralised implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
Replying to a felicitation by the Pune Union of Working Journalist (PUWJ) here on Monday, Kuvalekar, who is himself a senior journalist, observed that Maharashtra was the first state in the country to go for decentralisation of the RTI implementation. He said that constructive journalism and transparency were at the core of the right to information and the Act gives the common individual the right to sovereignty and accountability.
On his appointment to the coveted post, Kuvalekar said he would have to reach out to people in spreading awareness about the Act.
Well-known computer expert Vijay Bhatkar, who presided over the session, said Kuvalekar’s appointment as information commissioner would reveal a new facet of the latter’s all-round personality.
Publication: Times Of India Pune; Date:2007 Feb 20; Section:Times City; Page Number 5