Right to Information Act

The present government in India has promulgated Right to Information Act in 2005 with a view to reduce, if not eliminate, corruption in government offices. The need for this need not be emphasized, when one knows that India is ranked among the most corrupt countries. This Act provides rights to any Indian individual to approach to get information from any organization that belongs to the government or funded by the government. This Act provides also the right to inspect works done by these organizations by any individual. Of course, there are some provisions to exclude national security related information, sensitive information related to ongoing investigation, information that may harm individuals like key witnesses, informer, spies, etc. There could still be misuse of provisions of this Act by some individuals, but this Act will definitely address the grievances of people at large.

Our bureaucracy in India was having a powerful Act called "Official Secrets Act". They used provisions of this act whenever they were confronted with uneasy questions. It was very difficult to elicit information from babus (Indian bureaucracy). They used to provide either wrong information or do not respond. They can not do this any more. They are required to provide information and copies of official file documents to substantiate them, that too, within 30 days. There are penalty provisions, if the erring office does not respond within the stipulated period. Having many bad experiences with babus of the government offices, I hail this Act.

There are other provisions also, like the application for RTI can be in English or in the local language. The application need not be in the prescribed form, though prescribed form will provide more clarity of requirement. Plain paper is also acceptable. The fee with the application is very nominal. Fee is waived to people living below poverty level. This effort is laudable for making it easy, especially to the poor. Only people should get courageous and come forward to use the Act to their advantage.

A campaign is going on in India for spreading the usage of this Act. The news media is spreading the message of this campaign. Many NGOs are actively involved in this campaign. They not only spread the message, but also help the villagers to get resolutions to their problems. The, so called, powerful may not be able to bend the laws to their favor in future. India can not grow out of developing country status unless corruption is eliminated and accountability is enforced.

I understand some people use this Act to score personal vendetta against their colleagues working in the government organizations. I also understand some people try to make quick buck by providing help at a charge to the people who do not know how to apply this Act to their benefit. I hope these anomalies fade away by passage of time or by fine tuning this Act.

For more information on the Act and the campaign, please click the link National campaign for RTI of India.

Let us spread the usage of this Act for betterment of people at large.

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