*RTI Training to Municipality Executive Officers and IOs Kicks Off* A three-day RTI training for the executive officers and Information Officers of different five municipalities from across the country began in Godavari, Lalitpur on July 25. The training is organised by Freedom Forum.
Inaugurating the training, Secretary at the Ministry of Local Development, Shanta Bahadur Shrestha, said that RTI is directly linked to the rule of law, legitimacy, accountability and the good governance. Lauding the role of FF in building democratic governance by boosting the RTI sphere, Secretary Shrestha said people's access to good governance would be increased through the practice of RTI. He urged the participants to better utilize the training and put it into practice to improve governance at the local level. Similarly, Shrestha said through the use of RTI, information/data could be garnered on the contribution of the local bodies to alleviate poverty in the respective areas. According to him, it was time to find the role of the local bodies to the entire development of the country. On the occasion, FF Chairperson Taranath Dahal said the FF has the sole aim of improving governance through participatory democracy where the RTI is vital. Once the governance is democratic, the country becomes democratic, he said, adding that the training would help boost RTI which would in turn work as a tool to improve public service delivery. "RTI is the agent to transform society and boost state's capacity and strengthen citizen-state relations," he stressed. Similarly,RTI trainer Dharmendra Jha said there was no other mighty tool than RTI to improve governance and curb corruption in the country. Freedom Forum Executive Director Krishna Sapkota stressed that the training was organized to strengthen the capacity of supply side of information to appropriately address the growing information requests by the citizens. The use of RTI would make both supply and demand sides of information active and empower the citizens, which would serve democratic values, he argued. During the training the participants would be imparted practical knowledge and related issues of the RTI. It is attended by 12 persons- each two (Information Officer and Executive Officer) from Bhimdutta municipality of Kanchanpur, Narayan municipality of Dailekh, Byas municipality from Tanahun, Dhulikhel municipality of Kavre and Dharan municipality of Sunsari. For Further Information, Krishna Sapkota Executive Director Freedom Forum Thapathali, Kathmandu www.freedomforum.org.np
