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Hon. Chairman, Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to participate in the discussion on the
Appropriation Bill relating to the Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2015-16 presented
in this House by the hon. Finance Minister.

Sir, being an Appropriation Bill, there is no other alternative but to give consent to the Bill because
the Government has already made the expenditure and so the Parliament has to give sanction as a
procedure. The Finance Minister seeks the permission of this House for the ratification of the
expenditure in various departments. At the same time, it is really good to see that every expenditure
and income is accounted for by the Parliament. This is really very good as far as our system is
concerned. But this is also an occasion provided to Members of Parliament to assess the functioning
of the Government which is really related to the policy measures and their implementation.

The House has recently discussed the various serious economic situation prevailing in the country. In
fact, the Prime Minister himself has admitted / that the situation is serious and he has said that we
can overcome the situation. I do not like to disagree with the Prime Minister. But at the same time,
what measures the Government would take to overcome the situation is the most important thing.

Sir, Indian economy is witnessing a mix of illness, that is, slow-down of economic growth, widening of
the current account deficit, depreciation of currency, high inflation, growing fiscal deficit, lack of
employment opportunities etc. / After about six years, this is the first time that the growth rate has
declined to such an extent. This slow-down is due to the poor performance of various sectors. Out of
eleven sectors, six sectors witnessed lower rate of expansion. Out of these eleven sectors, only the
community and social service sector has shown a significant growth. Insurance and business services
showed lower growth rate compared to last year. Construction and mining have shown a very severe
decline compared to last year. In the field of electricity, gas and water supply, the growth rate is
lower as compared to the last year. Even the service sector is showing a fast declining trend. All these
factors have contributed towards the lower growth rate that our country has witnessed since long.
How can the Government overcome this situation?

Since nineties, India has been promoting and strengthening liberal economic policy for better growth
rate and to reduce the current account deficit/in our country. The current account deficit has now
risen to almost five per cent as compared to what it was two decades back. Then, what is the benefit
of this liberal policy that the Government has been following? The Government has now opened our
economy to foreign direct investment and foreign institutional investment. Now, a new legislation
has come before this House through which the Government wants to invite more foreign investment.

Sir, taking into account all human statistics, our position is not at all satisfactory compared to other
South Asian countries. With regard to malnutrition among children, our position is the least among
these countries. In the fields of education and health, we are far below to many of the South Asian
countries. Sir, a democratic Government should give welfare to the people of the country, especially
to the poorer sections. According to the Report of the United Nations, more than fifty per cent of
the assets of our country are controlled by the rich sections of the society. It is very clear that the
contribution of the liberal economic policy is for the rich section of our society. An hon. Member
from the Treasury Benches said that India is shining. But I would like to say that the shining is there
only in the corporate sector and not among the poor people.
It is shocking to see that according to the Planning Commission, a person getting Rs.26 in rural areas
and Rs. 32 in urban areas was considered to be living above the poverty line category. Now, they
have raised this limit to Rs. 45 in the rural areas and Rs. 55 in the urban areas. How can they say
that? How can the Planning Commission make such an assessment?

The purchasing power of the people is declining. One major reason is lack of adequate jobs. The
Government promotes Foreign Direct Investment, but whether we could create jobs by these new
investments. Sir, the job loss has become an alarming feature of our country. The House has
witnessed strong protests with regard to the ever increasing price of all items. The prices of food
items have gone up. Even the price of onion has also shot up in Delhi. The prices of all essential
commodities have gone up.

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Hon. Speaker, I am very grateful to you for allowing me to participate on a very important and critical
Bill, which has come before this august House. I am sure, this Bill will mark a beginning of a new era
in the field of information revolution.

Sir, all modern societies or any society for that matter will require a strong and purposeful
Government to steer them. In our own country, the Government expenditure accounts for nearly 30
per cent of our Gross National Product both at the Central level and at the level of States and local
bodies. At the same time, we find that social and economic imperatives require our Government to
intervene in all economic and social affairs. Therefore, I feel that the efficiency and effectiveness of
governmental processes are the critical variables. This will determine how we are functioning and to
what extent we are able to discharge the responsibilities entrusted to us by our electorate.

Sir, as far as power of the Government is concerned, I have always believed that it is the sacred trust
that the society has given to the Government. We, as part of the Government, have to spend in
taking into account the good of the largest number of people. Therefore, it becomes all the more
obligatory on our part to see that there is right correlation between the expenditure and efficiency. It
is a common knowledge that we all talk about wastefulness of expenditure and about corruption
prevailing in our system. Hence, it is very important for us to explore new and effective mechanism
to ensure that we all do our duties with a sense of responsibility. This is the guiding spirit behind this
Right to Information Bill that is now under consideration of this august House.

Sir, now the question comes as to what is the secret of successful functioning of any democratic
institution. In my view, the key to the successful functioning of any democratic polity lies in the ability
of a citizen to observe and evaluate the functioning of their elected representatives. The common
man should be able to make an informed judgment about the performance of their elected
representatives. This is possible only if there is an easy availability of necessary information for a
citizen to arrive at a decision. Then we have got the system to checks and balances at different
levels. This system has made all of us proud of our ability to match the goal of economic
development. In this context, I would say that it is the common man and the common woman of this
country who is the focal point of our democratic system. He or she is the seeker of information and
the final judge of our performance. This Government, Sir, has made a commitment not only to work
for the welfare of the common man but also to strengthen his or her role as the architect of our
destiny. It is in this background that today we are discussing this Right to Information Bill in this
House. This is possible only when our institutions function in a transparent, responsive and
accountable manner. The Right to Information Bill, Sir, will bring into force another right that will
empower the citizen in this regard. This will bring into effect a critical right for enforcing other rights.
This will also provide an opportunity to fill a vital gap in this regard. The Bill under consideration is
more far-reaching and effective. I am very grateful to all concerned for having played a very
important role in bringing into focus major drawbacks in the legislation.

The present Bill has the widest possible reach covering the Central Government, the State
Governments, Panchayati Raj institutions, local bodies and so on. This Bill talks about access to
information, which is simple, easy, time-bound and inexpensive. It has provided for certain stringent
penalties for failing to provide information in any way. In fact, the Bill has imposed certain obligations
on agencies and organizations to disclose information. Sir, one of the important features of the
present Bill is the independent appeal mechanism through the appointment of Central and State
Information Commissioners. This mechanism has made the right a potent instrument for good
governance. Sir, here I would like to say that many hon. Members have raised many concerns and
questions during the course of discussion on this Bill. I would only like to say that everyone should /
see the Bill in a positive spirit and not as a draconian law for the purpose of paralyzing the
Government. This is an instrument for improving the relationship between the Government and its
citizens so that it becomes a friendly, caring and effective Government functioning for the good of
our people. I hope that this would be used towards better performance.