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    Rightto Information Act

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    Karthik Bhat
    The Right to Information Act 2005 aims to make the Indian government and society more transparent and accountable. It gives Indian citizens the fundamental right to request information from public authorities, which must reply within 30 days. The Act requires computerization of records for wide dissemination and proactive publication of certain information categories. This empowers citizens to access information, curb corruption and hold the government answerable. However, activists requesting sensitive information have faced harassment and killings in some cases. Non-resident Indians can help by donating to organizations seeking information or filing requests themselves to analyze and disseminate findings.

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    Rightto Information Act

    Uploaded by

    Karthik Bhat
    29 views2 pages
    The Right to Information Act 2005 aims to make the Indian government and society more transparent and accountable. It gives Indian citizens the fundamental right to request information from public authorities, which must reply within 30 days. The Act requires computerization of records for wide dissemination and proactive publication of certain information categories. This empowers citizens to access information, curb corruption and hold the government answerable. However, activists requesting sensitive information have faced harassment and killings in some cases. Non-resident Indians can help by donating to organizations seeking information or filing requests themselves to analyze and disseminate findings.

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    RighttoInformationAct

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    The Right to Information Act 2005 aims to make the Indian government and society more transparent and accountable. It gives Indian citizens the fundamental right to request information from public authorities, which must reply within 30 days. The Act requires computerization of records for wide dissemination and proactive publication of certain information categories. This empowers citizens to access information, curb corruption and hold the government answerable. However, activists requesting sensitive information have faced harassment and killings in some cases. Non-resident Indians can help by donating to organizations seeking information or filing requests themselves to analyze and disseminate findings.

    Copyright:

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    29 views2 pages

    Rightto Information Act

    Uploaded by

    Karthik Bhat
    The Right to Information Act 2005 aims to make the Indian government and society more transparent and accountable. It gives Indian citizens the fundamental right to request information from public authorities, which must reply within 30 days. The Act requires computerization of records for wide dissemination and proactive publication of certain information categories. This empowers citizens to access information, curb corruption and hold the government answerable. However, activists requesting sensitive information have faced harassment and killings in some cases. Non-resident Indians can help by donating to organizations seeking information or filing requests themselves to analyze and disseminate findings.

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    of 2

    The Right to Information Act 2005

    The Indian bureaucracy is famous for its unresponsiveness, complacency and opacity. People have
    often resorted to bribes to have a fruitful interaction with the Government departments - be it for getting
    a license, passport, ration card, registering an FIR etc. Sometimes even if bribe is not asked for,
    Government work is accompanied with apathy at least and harassment at worst.

    A booming economy and the fast industrialization is causing more such Governmental obfuscation.
    Almost overnight, MoUs are being signed by Governments with private corporations, leasing out large
    tracts of land rich in mineral resources, forests and water for a pittance.

    So far people were helpless and could only be a mute spectator. With the RTI Act, people are no longer
    just helpless and mute spectators but now have a right to question the Government, inspect it’s work and
    documents and make it answerable to every question asked of it.

    National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information

    The NCPRI is a platform of individuals - prominent ones being Anna Hazaare and Arvind Kejriwal
    - and organizations committed to making the Indian government and society more transparent and
    accountable. It seeks to empower people and to deepen democracy, through promoting the people’s right
    to know. It fought for the passage of the Freedom of Information Act in 2002 and the Right to Information
    Act in 2005.

    The Right to Information Act 2005

    The Right to Information Act (RTI Act) has been given the status of a fundamental right under Article
    19(1) of the Constitution and allows all Indian citizens (except those living in Jammu and Kashmir) to
    request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or "instrumentality of State") which
    is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days, all for a meagre sum of 10 (US$ 0.22). The Act
    also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively
    publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for
    information formally. This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 13
    October 2005.

    How the RTI Act Works for Individuals

    Under the Act, all Government departments covered must appoint their Public Information Officer (PIO).
    Any person may submit a request to the PIO for information in writing or through various online portals. It
    is the PIO's obligation to provide the requested information to citizens of India. If the request pertains to
    another public authority (in whole or part) it is the PIO's responsibility to transfer/forward the concerned
    portions of the request to a PIO of the other within 5 days. The applicant is not required to disclose any
    information or reasons other than his name and contact particulars to seek the information.
    The Act specifies time limits for replying to the request.

    ● If the request has been made to the PIO, the reply is to be given within 30 days of receipt.
    ● If the PIO transfers the request to another public authority (better concerned with the information
    requested), the time allowed to reply is 30 days but computed from the day after it is received by
    the PIO of the transferee authority.
    ● Information concerning corruption and Human Rights violations by scheduled Security agencies
    (Intelligence Departments, certain sensitive paramilitary forces like the NSG, etc) is to be
    provided within 45 days but with the prior approval of the Central Information Commission. The
    Indian Army implements its own Right to Information Act separately.
    ● However, if life or liberty of any person is involved, the PIO is expected to reply within 48 hours.

    If information is not provided within this period, it is treated as deemed refusal. Refusal with or without
    reasons may be ground for appeal or complaint. Further, information not provided in the times prescribed
    is to be provided free of charge.

    The RTI Act has resulted in uncovering information leading to the successful filing of numerous cases.
    People also use the law to stop petty corruption and to solve their most basic problems, like getting
    access to subsidized food for the poor or a government pension without having to pay a bribe, or
    determining whether government doctors and teachers are actually showing up for work.

    How the RTI works for Institutions

    One of the chief benefits of the Act, is that it also confers an administrative weapon that responsive
    officials can use against less responsive colleagues. It permits and promotes, institutional competition, a
    way for different branches of government to maintain oversight over each other, which is an essential
    component of good governance.
    Using the RTI Act, for example, a person can provide information to a judge that allows the judiciary to
    challenge police inaction. Likewise, the law permits honest officials to act on information collected by
    citizens against corrupt officials in their own department.

    Risks involved for RTI activists and NRIs’ role in mitigating them

    Activists in India, making pointed inquiries at the dangerous intersection of high-stakes business
    and power politics have sometimes paid a heavy price. There have been a few cases of killings and
    countless cases of beatings and harassment. In many of these cases, the information requested involved
    allegations of corruption and collusion between politicians and big-money business.

    However, NRIs are generally safe from such risks and can contribute by donating to NGOs who seek
    information or by filing for information themselves. There exist various online portals, some setup by the
    Government, to search for various PIOs listed and to search for the various development projects under
    way. The portals - an example is the Central Information Commission’s http://rti.india.gov.in - also help in
    the tracking of filed petitions. NRI doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants etc can proactively use the
    RTI Act to request, analyze and disseminate information about the various projects specific to their area
    of expertise. As always, the need of the hour is to leave aside apathy and scepticism and engage.

    References for the above text: CIC’s website, The NYT, Wikipedia and various blogs.

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