RIGHT TO INFORMATION

Mr. H. D. Shourie, Founder-Director, COMMON CAUSE was a staunch advocate of transparency in Government functioning. He had taken up this important subject from the platform of COMMON CAUSE. The Government of India appointed a Working Group under his Chairmanship on the subject of Right to Information and promotion of open and transparent government. The other members of the Working Group included the legal luminary, Soli Sorabjee and senior officers from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Law & Justice, Information & Broadcasting, Railways, Tele Communications and Personnel. 

The Working Group submitted its Report which inter alia included Draft of the Bill entitled "Freedom of Information Bill". The proposed legislation was based on the following broad principles: 

a) Disclosure of information should be the rule and secrecy the exception; 
b) The exceptions should be clearly defined; and 
c) There should be an independent mechanism for adjudication of disputes between citizens and public authorities..

The draft submitted by the Working Group was converted into "Freedom of Information Bill" 2000 and placed before the Parliament which passed it in 2002. However, Rules governing its implementation were not framed and notified, as a result the Act was not implemented. Subsequently, some improvements were made in the earlier enactment and Right to Information Act (RTI) was passed by the Parliament in May, 2005. The President gave his assent in June 2005. As per the provisions in the Act, it became law with effect form 12th October, 2005. 

It is a very important legislation. It has infused a lot of confidence in the minds of people, even village folk. We reproduce an Article by a Magsaysay Award winner highlighting how the RTI is instrumental in the shift in the balance of power which was unjustly tilted against the common citizen. (Hindustan times : 21 November, 2005)

EVERY VILLAGER FEELS HE HAS BECOME AN MLA. 
ARUNA ROY 


"On October 13, as people filed applications under the National Right to Information Act at Beawar in Rajasthan, an official in the Municipality sardonically remarked, "now every person will become an MLA!" 

In the month since the national Right To Information (RTI) became operational people involved with the process have experienced a palpable sense of power while using the provisions of the Act. 

A week ago in Devdungri, Rajsamand district, poor peasants animatedly shared stories of using the law. Young dalit Kheema Ram gleefully showed the written reply to an application regarding the misuse of scheduled caste certificates. He could not believe that an answer to his application had come by post in record time. Anchi applied to the Food and Civil Supplies Officer, Beawar for details of the quantity of wheat sent to dealers in Lotiyana, Ajmer district over the last six months. She did not expect each eligible ration card holder to receive three months entitlement delivered at home! Elderly Kaniram, resident of Kabra Panchayat, wanting to know about non availability of ration under the Annnapurna scheme got his year's supply of wheat, earlier denied, though his question still lies unanswered. 

A question about muster rolls of workers long denied wages in a remote tribal village Banda, Chittorgarh Tehsil brought the officer of the Games Sanctuary within a week, with information and payment! IN Jaipur, Kuldeep Nuwa asked for details of sanctions and expenditure for huge hoardings of the Jaipur Development Authority prominently featuring the Chief Minister. Hoardings began to come down even before the information was provided. Waseem and Shiraz filed an application in Nimbaheda, Chittorgarh with the dealer of Bharat Petroleum for details of pending domestic and commercial connections. The waiting list for domestic gas was cleared. 

These are only a few examples of the use of the national RTI law over the last month in Rajasthan. There have been very important interventions made earlier under the State laws particularly in Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. The difference lies in the greater administrative accountability under the national RTI law. Much of this transformation is due to the fear of the penalty provision. 

Any public information officer who without reasonable cause, delays or withholds information beyond the stipulated 30 days will be fined Rs 250 daily. Citizens are experiencing the empowerment of using a law with inbuilt accountability mechanisms. 
Cynicism is a prominent excuse used to justify inaction. "Nothing can happen in this system" is the popular refrain. Most users of the RTI in Rajasthan, still come from society's most disadvantaged sections, hardly acknowledged as part of `civil society'. Many of them have struggled to evolve this mode of democratic, civic action. Connected with movements and campaigns, they are using the law to strengthen civil rights. The participation of the middle class in demanding information, has created the possibility of building a wider alliance against injustice and arbitrariness in governance. 

The RTI is essential but not sufficient to transform society. But by making transparency and accountability tangible for people like Kaniram it can become part of a critical democratic process. The entitlement to ask questions and demand answers, is phenomenally powerful. It helps shift the balance of power so unjustly tilted against the common citizen in a corrupt and feudal system. At the very least, this entitlement demolishes the excuse for cynicism. If there is something that bothers us we can and must do something about it. 

This law has created an important democratic space for the ordinary citizen. The challenge is now ours to use and protect what we have got. There is already a move to exempt file nothings from disclosure. We need to fight such attempts and work to widen and sharpen the spaces we have created. 

As the RTI campaign has repeatedly demonstrated, the right to question is the use of political power implicit in the right to vote. With this law, you no longer have to be an MLA or MP to be able to ask questions. RTI activists have been urging citizens to file at least one RTI application on any matter that affects them. All that is required, is an application with your name and address and the details of the information you are seeking to be filed in the concerned office. 

With the receipt for your application, begins a complex, but exciting journey of democratic participation. You will link your question with the larger concerns of society. You will perhaps not only pry open the lid of the Pandora Box, but also probably help give shape to an ethical Democratic polity." 

(A Magsaysay Award winner, the author is a member of the National Advisory Council)

January-March 2006