The
Right to information Act 2005, which came fully into effect on 12th October,
2005 is one of the most significant legislations enacted by the Parliament of
India. The Act enables establishment of an unprecedented regime of right to
information for the citizens of the country. It overrides the ‘Official Secrets
Act’ and similar laws and rules. It aims to ensure maximum openness and
transparency in the machinery and functioning of government at all level,
Central State and Local.
Right
to information should be treated as a basic human right. From an educated man living
in the city to an illiterate villager, everybody has the right to know how the government
he or she voted to power is performing. Where is the money that he or she gives
as tax going? What happened to the Panchayats promise of building that primary school
or the road? Was the lowest tender accepted for building that six lane bridge?
We all have these questions and now Right to Information Act has made it
possible for us to know the answers to these questions.
The
lack of access to information on Government policies, programmes,
schemes,benefits and deliveries makes corrupt practices thrive. When corruption
siphons off amounts from employment guarantee, unemployment or disability
benefit, misdirects public funds for service delivery or delays pension and
social security payments, it is usually the poor who suffer the most. Freedom
of information can be a potent tool to prevent and fight corruption.
It
should be remembered that Public bodies hold information not for themselves,
but as custodians of the public good and everyone has a right to access this
information, subject only to clearly well defined rules established by law. In
a government of responsibility like ours , where all the agents of the public
must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people
of this country have a right to know every public act by their public
functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public
transaction in all its bearing. The Indian democracy is going through a new
phase. It is difficult to hypothesize about a real democracy without good
governance, transparency and responsibility. Right to information has made all
these possible. It has brought the common citizen into a new democratic role
where he can directly question the administration.
The Right to Information Act 2005 has provided
us the right to get information from the government. Through this we can now
expose corruption and also bring to light those duties that are not being
performed by the officials. We can ask information about projects and plans. We
can inspect files and check for any misappropriations. The government spends a
huge amount of money for development work. We can ask for information about the
work being done in our area. We can find out the amount of money that is being
spent and where. Information relating to tenders, agreements, payments and
estimates of engineering work etc. can be obtained with the help of the Right
to information Act. Besides these, information can be sought on the following-
1. We can demand
samples of materials used for the construction of roads, drains and buildings
etc.
2. We can demand
an inspection of any social development work, work in progress or information
related to any completed work.
3. We can demand
an inspection of government documents, maps for the construction, registers and
records.
4. We can demand
information related to the progress made on any complaint filed by you in the
recent past.
Experiences
suggest that in the states where the Right to Information Act has been implemented,
it has become an important tool of social development and governance. Awareness
among the people about the use of RTI has had a great effect on the working culture
of the government. It has made the officials more responsible towards the dispensation
of their duties.
When
there was no right to Information , citizens were forced to grapple in the dark
while the bureaucrats kept all the information hidden. The role of right to
information is quite effective in informing crores of grassroots people whose
development is marred due to corruption. Even today the greatest challenge of
India is bad governance. We elect our representatives and submit our rights to
them in the hope that after going to Parliament or to the State Assembly they
will come up with laws and plans and work for the welfare of the people. But
the truth is really frightening. The House runs merely for 10 to 20 days in a
year and even this time is spent in useless quarrels, discussions and other
formalities. The possibility of asking questions that concern people is
limited. Somehow even if some questions are asked, satisfactory answers are
hardly provided. Then, even if some answers are provided, little or no action
is taken. Our representatives have failed completely on the floor of the House.
Today , it is not the people’s representatives who raise important questions
but common people, RTI activists and social organizations are raising these
questions. And what is even better is that not only have they received
satisfactory answers but proper action has also been taken on the issues raised
by them. After acquiring the RTI, people have become more powerful than their
representatives. If an MP or MLA wants to raise a question on the floor of the
House, it is not necessary that his request would be accepted and even if his
question is accepted, it is not necessary that it will be discussed. Even if it
is taken up for discussion there is no guarantee that he will get all the
answers. Once an issue has been raised, no matter how unsatisfactorily, the
member has to wait for the next session to take it up again as there are limits
on the number of questions that an MP or MLA can raise. The Right to
Information has provided freedom from all these constraints. Further, out representatives
can ask questions only when the House is in session whereas citizens can ask
any number of questions any time from any government office. The
representatives have very few opportunities of responding to the partial
information they receive, while the citizens have more than enough time to go
through the information properly and raise appropriate question.
Representatives can be denied information due to different reasons, whereas the
common people cannot be denied information, as not providing information under
the RTI Act in the stipulated period of 30 days , is punishable offence. The
queries of citizens cannot be postponed.
All
these show that in a new democracy people need not be dependent on their representatives.
They can take the initiative on their own. In fact this process has already started
and it s results are quite encouraging in states like Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh.
The
right to Information will encourage journalists and society at large to
question the state of affairs. It can be powerful weapon to check the
unmitigated corrupt practices and can also promote accountability. The scribes
will no longer have to depend on conjecture, rumour, leaks and sources other
than knowledgeable ones. The legislation on RTI can act like an antidote to
vested interests which try to conceal or misinterpret information or which try
to manipulate the media directly or indirectly to plant misinformation. Through
the RTI Act transparency in public, professional, social and personal sphere
can be achieved.
How
to Seek Information
After
the implementation of the Right to Information Act , it is mandatory to appoint
a Public Information Officer and an Assistant PIO in every public department.
The names of these officials are to made public through newspapers. They also
have to be displayed on the notice boards of the public departments.
Even if you do not get the names of the Public Information Officers, you
can file your application in the name of the Public Information Officer
to the concerned department and seek the information required. For
seeking information an application has to be submitted . There is no specific
format or form for the application. You can submit a hand written
application written on a plain sheet of paper. There are some
departments, which have released forms, which are available free of
cost. You can fill up the application form and seek the required information.
If you want to deposit a handwritten or typed or printed application no officer
can refuse to accept your application. All information sought has to be
provided within a month. If the applicant does not receive any
information within a month or is not satisfied with the information provided,
he can first appeal to the department’s First Appellate Authority and then
to the State Information Commission. If the appeal is accepted then information
will be provided. It is sufficient to provide only questions for seeking
information. It is not necessary to mention in the application as to,
why you want the information. Even the officials are not supposed to ask
why we are seeking the information. Similarly, you do not require any
identity for seeking information. It makes no difference if you are a
leader of a political party or an ordinary citizen. If you file your
application as per the provisions then the officials are bound to
provide the information sought by you. The complete address of the
applicant is compulsory though. If some official is reluctant to provide
information then he may also be penalized for not providing information
within the stipulated period.
The
right to freedom of information is crucial not only in determining policy but
also in checking the Government in its implementation policy. Freedom of
information is a necessary part of our democratic polity. All power in a
democracy belongs to the people who are the masters and the government is their
servant. If the people are to perform their sovereign role and instruct their government,
they must have access to all information, ideas and points of view. Thus democracy must extend beyond the ballot
box and be deepened through social citizenship and citizen governance. I have
no doubt that India will certainly flourish in terms of accountability when
millions of people use the right of information.
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