“Information is the currency of the diplomacy and it is critical for the emergence and development of vibrant civil society.”
Brief History:
News jungle desk: The Right to Information became popular through Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 which gives you right to receive information through any media regardless of frontiers.
In Mr Kulwal v/s Jaipur Municipal Corporation judgement, supreme court held that Right to Information is the part of Article 19(1)(a) Freedom of Speech and Expression and without this article Right to Information can not be fully practiced.
Right to Information act was passed on june 2005 by the parliament and implemented on october 2005.The main objective of this Act to ensure Transparency and Accountability in governance.
Features:
Information means any material in form of Documents, Reports, Press release, circulars, Emails, advices and data stored in any electronic form floppies, tapes etc.and information related to any private body which can be accessed by any public authority under any enforced law.
Public Authority means any authority or body constituted,
by constitution
by parliament and state legislature
by Notification issued or order made by any appropriate government
Any Non Government Organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly funded by appropriate government.
Any citizen of india may request information from Public Authority and it will be replied within 30 days.
if not getting information within 30 days , an individual may file an appeal. an appellate authority must reply within 30 days or in 45 days in some exceptional cases.
RTI Act has three tier structure that is, Public Information Officer, First Appellate Authority and Central Information Commission.
RTI Amendment Act 2018 is giving the centre, the power to fix the saleries and tenures of central and state information commissioners, which are statutorily protected under the RTI Act. this move will dilute the autonomy and independence of CIC.
Importance:
The weak and vulnerable part of society are also empowered by this Act, now they can seek information about the policies that are being run for them and they can enjoy full benefits.
Now Public Officials can not discriminate against citizens based on caste , religion or gender.
This Act exposed high corruptions like Commonwealth Games and allocation of 2G spectrum and Coal blocs.
it mandated officials in every office to change their attitude and duty from secrecy to sharing and openness.
It has been seen as to strengthen participatory Democracy and establish People Centred Governance.
Challenges:
Different types of information is sought which has no public interests such as,
Sometimes information can be used to misuse the law
Harass and pressurize the public authorities
To gain publicity by filing the RTI.
There has been a poor record keeping practices by government officials,this violates section 4 of RTI Act.
There is a lack of appropriate infrastructure and huge deficiency of staff to run information commissions.
Many public officials did not get any training while joining the post.
Dilution of Whistle Blower protection Act is a cause of concern.
RTI v/s Legislation for non disclosure of information:
It shall be an offence to disclose information restricted by the central government,acts such as
Official secret act 1923
Atomic energy act 1912
RTI Act and Political parties:
Activist want political parties to be brought under this act because,
To control huge donations from corporates which lead to favouratism and crony capitalism.
Illegal foreign contribution
Opposition leaders are statutorily mandated to be part of selecting committees to select chairperson for CIC,Lokpal,CBI,CVC.
They enjoy multiple benefits such as, free air time on DD and AIR from government.
Stand of political parties;
Political parties are not public authorities so can not be brought under RTI Act.
Diclosed information can be misused.It can disclose financial information under IT Act.
Conclusion:
This act has not achieved its full objective to establish transparency and accountability and also failed to achieve social justice.This law is a golden opportunity to increase people’s participation in democratic process , stop corruption and make India modern and informative nation.