By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 4 Oct: The Dr RS Tolia State Level Right to Information Debate Competition – 2024 was organised today in collaboration with Uttarakhand Information Commission and Law College Dehradun of Uttaranchal University. Former Principal Secretary and Chief Information Commissioner of the state, Shatrughna Singh was the Chief Guest on the occasion, while the programme was presided over by the President of the University, Jitendra Joshi.
Dr VP Joshi, Dr Paritosh Singh, Pradeep Sati and former Information Commissioner Arjun Singh were the judges. Law students from universities and colleges across the state participated in the competition. The topic of the debate was: “This House Believes That Right to Information Is Relevant to Democracy in India.”
The participants speaking in favour of the topic said that this law is one of the most powerful and progressive passed in India. Despite facing the tough challenges of Indian democracy, it has succeeded in bringing transparency in government work, ensuring accountability and curbing corruption. The participants speaking against the topic called it a ‘Tiger without Teeth’ and raised questions on its relevance. They presented strong arguments by presenting data related to a large number of pending cases, vacant posts of Information Commissioners in various states and misuse of power.
After a tough competition, the jury declared Chanakya Law College, Kumaon University, as the Best Institute, Adiba Ansari as the best English Speaker, and Pratham Awasthi as the best Hindi Speaker. The Best Institute was awarded the Rolling Trophy and the winners were awarded a trophy, certificate and a cash prize of Rs 26,300, each.
In his address, Dean and Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Rajesh Bahuguna said that the Right to Information is an important weapon in the hands of the common person, but in the last 19 years, it has been used by a few people more for self-interest than for public interest.
Chief Information Commissioner (In charge) of the Uttarakhand Information Commission, Vivek Sharma said that the Right to Information is one of the basic principles of the Indian Constitution which ensures transparency and accountability to the public. A democracy can be truly successful only when its foundation rests on transparency, accountability and public participation.
Chief Guest Shatrughna Singh said that Right to Information is an integral part of democracy. The birthplace of the concept of Right to Information in India is a village head of Rajasthan who staged a sit-in to get information from the Block Development Officer and later it became a movement and the Right to Information Act was born. The Supreme Court of India has placed it in the category of fundamental rights.
The programme was conducted by ‘Aarambh’, the Debating Society of Law College Dehradun, and the Principal of the College Prof Poonam Rawat proposed the vote of thanks.
Information Commissioner Vipin Chandra, Information Commissioner Yogesh Bhatt, Secretary Arvind Kumar Pandey, Prof Poonam Rawat, Amit Chaudhary, Rajesh Naithani, CS Joshi, BC Papaney, Sarvesh Gupta, Saurav Kumar and a large number of students were present on the occasion.
