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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Delivering an effective RTI by Anupam Saraph

Delivering an effective RTI by Anupam Saraph

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published Published on Nov 19, 2011   modified Modified on Nov 19, 2011

Bhausaheb R Wakchaure, Shiv Sena MP from Shirdi, has introduced a private members bill (Bill No. 70 of 2011) proposing that information requested under the (Right To Information) RTI can be denied to applicants who do not state the reason they require the information or it is the opinion of the competent authority that reasons given by the applicant are not adequate or are factually incorrect.

The proposed bill will destroy any illusions of the government’s intentions to deliver transparency and particularly to provide rights. It will destroy any doubts that the RTI is really a privilege to information act and fails to deliver a right as much as it fails to deliver information.

A right defines and empowers what you may do without the permission of others. It creates a moral and legal barrier that others may not cross.

Your exercise of a right does not diminish the rights of others. It only imposes the obligation of non-interference on others. A right is your protection against those who attempt to forcibly take your life’s time, your dignity, your freedom, your money or property.

If you thought the RTI was a right as in a right to speech, think again. Imagine if you had to apply to speak, say why you wished to speak, what you wished to speak, pay a fee to speak and then wait for a month to be able to speak!

Under the RTI, you cannot obtain information without the permission of public information officers (PIOs). The PIOs are gatekeepers to your “right”. They are the smokescreen to information, access and the implementation of the right. The proposed legislation will legitimise the PIO as a guard to information access.

When you undertake any transaction with any public authority, including inquiry about the status of a previous transaction, there is no better person who has access to all information about the transaction than the official undertaking the transaction on behalf of the public authority.

It is absurd that the act does not grant you an immediate and complete access to all information relating to your transaction during the transaction itself. It is absurd that the official involved in the transaction is not deemed a PIO. Access to this information should not require application, fees, or any wait. Your access to information protects you against those who try to rob you of your time, dignity freedom, money and property. Your access to information does not diminish anyone’s right.

Similarly when a public authority undertakes programmes and projects, there is no better person who has access to all information about the programs or projects than the person responsible for them on behalf of the public authority. As a taxpayer funding the programs or projects, it is absurd that a stakeholder has to pay fees, apply for information and wait for a month to receive often useless replies.

A stakeholder’s access to information about the programme or project protects the stakeholders from programmes and projects that rob them of their time, dignity freedom, money and property without compromising the rights of anyone else.

The RTI Act relies on the patience, understanding, resources, persistence and courage of the information seeker to appeal to the appellate authority or the information commissioners.

The excellent track record of the appellate authorities and SICs at usurping the right by disposing appeals and complaints without ensuring the protection of the right or delivery of the information speaks volumes for the failure of the government to deliver a right to information.

A right is not actualised and implemented by the actions of others. A right is the power to act without the permission of others. The RTI Act of 2005 does not deliver a right to the people of India.

Governments serious about good governance should work to deliver a right, not a privilege.

DNA, 18 November, 2011, http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_delivering-an-effective-rti_1614266


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