Right to Information Act needs more teeth
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The passage of the Indian Right to Information Act (RTI) in 2005 was hailed as a landmark in the process of social change and redefining the relationship between the citizens and the state.
However, six months after the Act came into effect, the Indian government approved amendments that would damage the scope and power of the Act.
To study an overall impact assessment of the RTI Act, Centre for Media Studies (CMS) in the January 2008 issue of its Journal of Transparency Studies, carried out a Transparency Review. The Review contains selected articles and news items from the journal’s previous issues, examining the implementation of Right to Information Act (RTI) in India and comes up with analysis of what ails the act and how to make it more effective. Noted social activist Aruna Roy in one of the articles of the Review hails RTI as a welcome legislative entitlement and as a first step towards accountable governance. However, there is still a long way to go. RTI needs more teeth. This is the overriding theme of this review which draws lessons from the case studies undertaken in different states of India. For instance, it was found that most of those availing the Act were either in the system or with the establishment. Also, largely the RTI act is being used for individual purpose than for community concerns. An important finding of the Review is that men in urban areas are using this option more than those living in rural areas. The awareness about the RTI is notably disappointing. Like a study conducted in 16 towns and villages of Karnataka by Consumer Rights Education and Awareness Trust (CREAT) revealed that out of 250 applications that were filed to different public authorities, only 67 responded to queries under section 4 1 (a) and 60 responded under section 4 1 (b) of the Act. Moreover, a lot of information is incomplete and most of the authorities do not even have their own websites. Also, there has been a major hue and cry over excluding defence and intelligence, operation and planning services from the purview of the Act. However, the largest amount of corruption takes place in the procurement of arms. Therefore, it is necessary that these areas should be subjected to the provisions of RTI. To make the RTI act more effective and periodical evaluation and assessment need to be undertaken independently and in an impartial and transparent manner. Source: Centre for Media Studies |
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