Right to Information

Right to Information

Right to Information

Information is required by every citizen to participate in the life and governance of a nation. Executive at all levels tries to hide information in order to increase its control over people and at times exercise powers arbitrarily. Therefore, it is important to demystify rules and procedures and keep the relevant information related to governance in the public domain.

Right to Information is an integral part of the freedom of speech and expression enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution as "freedom of speech and expression" include the right to acquire information and disseminate the same. In order to promote transparency and accountability in administration, Parliament passed Right to Information Act, 2005 so as to enable a citizen of India to access information under the control of Public Authorities. The RTI Act mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information. It applies to all States and Union Territories of India.

Salient Features of Right to Information Act, 2005

  • Under the act, the term information' includes any mode of information in any form of record, document, e-mail, circular, press release, contract sample or electronic data, etc.
  • Any citizen may request information from a 'public authority' which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. Under the Section 2(h) of the Act, public authorities refer to all authorities and bodies under the Constitution or any other law and also includes all authorities under the Central, state governments and local bodies among others. The civil societies substantially funded, directly or indirectly, by the public funds also fall within this ambit.
  • Citizens have a right to request any information; take copies of documents; inspect documents, works and records; take certified samples of materials of work; and obtain information in the form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode.
  • The Act relaxes the Official Secrets Act of 1889 which was amended in 1923 and various other special laws that restricted information disclosure in India.
  • Under the RTI Act, an applicant can obtain information within 30 days from the date of request in a normal case. In specific circumstances Information can be obtained within 48 hours from time of request if it is a matter of life or liberty of a person.
  • If an applicant is not provided information within the prescribed time of 30 days or 48 hours, as the case may be, or is not satisfied with the information furnished to him, he may appeal to the first appellate authority who is an officer senior in rank to the PIO, If still not satisfied the applicant may go for a second appeal with the Central Information Commission (CIC/State Information Commission (SIC) within 90 days from the date on which the decision should have been made by the first appellate authority or was actually received by the appellant.
  • Penalty for refusal to receive an application for information or for not providing information is 250 rupees per day, but the total amount of the penalty should not exceed 25,000 rupees.
  • The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records in the public domain for wide dissemination of information and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.
  • The Act enumerates the types of information(s) that are exempted from disclosure. However, these exempted information(s) can be disclosed if public interest in disclosure overweighs the harm to the protected interest.

 

Case Studies

There have been several cases of RTI being successful. For examples:

  • Suvarana Bhagyawant, a resident of the Ambhegaon village was making rounds of the Panchayat office for about two years to get her grandfather's death certificate, which was needed so that her grandmother could apply for the widow pension scheme. She, finally, filed an RTI and got the certificate within 8 days.
  • In a ration shop in Himatsar village in Bikaner district of Rajasthan, grains meant for the poor were being black-marketed. Revat Ram and his friends used the RTI Act to get all the records of the ration shop and expose it. The shopkeeper lost the dealership and was forced to pay over Rs. Four lakhs to the villagers, an amount equivalent to the grains he sold illegally.
  • Manoj, a student at the government school at Velpur, Nizamabad, filed an application to the Labour Welfare department, when several of his classmates did not receive the scholarships of 1000 per year for the academic year 2011-2012. In the application the department was asked why the money has not been sent and by what time will the money be sent. As a result, 10 of the students got their scholarship.

Key Issues and Constraints in Implementing the RTI Act

Issues Faced on the “Demand Side"

  • Low awareness level
  • Quality of awareness
  • Constraints faced in filing applications
  • Non-availability of User Guides for RTI implementation for information seekers
  • Standard forms for RTI application
  • Inconvenient submission channels for RTI application
  • Inconvenient payment channels for submission of application fees
  • Non-friendly attitude of the PIOs
  • Poor quality of information provided
  • Constraints faced in inspection of records

Issues faced on the "Supply Side"

  • Failure to provide information within 30 days
  • inadequate trained PIOs and First Appellate Authorities
  • Obsolete record management Guidelines
  • Non-availability of basic Infrastructure
  • Lack of Motivation among PIOs
  • Ineffective Implementation of Section 4(a)(b)

Other Issues

  • Lack of Monitoring and Review mechanism
  • High level of Pendency
  • Geographical spread of the Information Commissions

Suggestive Measures to Improve Transparency and Accountability in Governance

                Publicity of Information: Computer based intenet access is still constrained in developming country like India, therefore, explicit efforts should be made to make information available on public notice boards, on popular mobile phone platforms, and in conjuction with other mass media (e.g. FM Radio) and mass institutions (e.g. faith bodies, fast moving consumer goods companies).

Localized Solutins: The right approach to creating an open, transparent and accountable government is highly dependent on the country's democratic maturity and local context. Any move towards opennes needs to be tailored to local conditions. Availability of information on citizen's Charter in local language in one such example.

Increasing Awareness: There is need for a set of competent and commidtted public official to create and manage the information systems for an open government. Just as important is the involvement of a strong civil society who can put pressure on government and raise public awareness and support.

Greater Use of ICT: Digitization of records and greater use of information technology can be made to encourage scrutiny. Geo tagging the assets constructed under MGNREGA Act the use of AADHAAR for identification of beneficiaries, and initiation of mandatory-tendering in various government allocations can be effective in enhancing transparency and accountability in everyday governance.

Reforms in RTI: International standards of RTI, such as maximum disclosure; obligation to publish; promotion of open government shall be adopted and promoted under the freedom of information. Also the exceptions to RTI should be clearly and narrowly drawn and subject to strict harm' and 'public interest' test. Meanwhile, suo motu disclosures under the RTI Act, 2005 should not be confined to the seventeen items provided in Section 4(1) of that Act but other subjects where public interest exists should also be covered. Citizen's Charters should be made effective by stipulating the service levels and the remedy if these service levels are not met. Regular citizens' feedback, survey, and citizens'report cards should be evolved by all government organizations for gauging citizens' responses to their services. These should be used as inputs for improving organizational efficiency.

Mandatory Social Audits: Social audits should be made mandatory for all developmental programmes and be institutionalized for improving local service delivery. Also, evaluation tools such as 'report cards' for assessing the performance of local bodies should be devised wherein citizens should have a say in the evaluation.

Greater Information Accessibility: Requests for information should be processed rapidly and fairly and an independent review of any refusal should be available. Individuals should not be deterred from making requests for information by excessive costs. The meetings of public bodies should be open to the public.

Reducing Chances of Abuse of Power: Provisions shall be made for sharing, making publicly accessible, and regularly updating information about the institution's mission, priorities, leadership, activities, and events through various mechanisms, including both on-line and in person and seeking input from key stakeholders on the priorities and progress of the institution.