Cash rewards for those who do well in the tests to be held later this year
Cash rewards for those who do well in the tests to be held later this year
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With the Right to Information's credibility growing as a tool that empowers the common man, the Delhi government is now pulling up its socks by trying to educate its employees on the issue. And come September, the Administrative Reforms Department (ARD), headed by MM Kutty, principal secretary to chief minister Sheila Dikshit, will hold a mega exam for workers from all departments to test the waters.
The exam will be conducted by the Administrative Reforms
Department, headed by principal secretary to the chief minister.
"How many will participate is not certain right now. But we have written to the heads of all departments of local civic bodies, Delhi government departments, public sector undertakings and corporations. Employees of every grade will participate in the exam," said a top Delhi government official.
Money-spinner
The test will not be mandatory, but officials say financial awards along with certificates will be announced to lure employees. The ARD is trying to give wide publicity to the exam and send names of those interested by July 15. The test is expected to take place in September. "Those who score above 80 per cent will be given a cash prize of Rs 1500. Minimum prize will be Rs 400 for those who score more than 40 per cent. Objective type question papers will be set for each category," the official said. So workers are gearing up to answer some tough questions. "People are increasingly using RTI as a tool to check government functioning. The idea is to train the workforce so that there are no goof-ups, delays in giving out replies," he added.u00a0
'Prime' numbers
The number of Right to Information (RTI) applications filed with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has increased a whopping 8,402 per cent in five years, say officials. The figure went up from 48 in 2005 - when the act came into force - to over 4,000 applications in 2010, say information officials in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office.
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