The Right to Information Act which came into force on October 12th 2005 was enacted to ensure transparency and accountability in governance. But the manner in which the government has been subtly subverting the RTI Act is a matter of concern.
A well informed citizenry, transparency, and free flow of information are the very foundations of any successful democratic society. India may be publicly acclaimed as the world's largest democracy but the ground reality is that we are now ebbing away as Democracy and non-transparency in the functioning of the Government cannot co-exist.
Besides, freedom of speech without access to information is meaningless. In 2014 Narendra Modi rode to power on his vow of 'Acche din' for the Aam Aadmi and Good Governance. But once in power the Prime Minister has done nothing to empower the people by strengthening this vital Act. His then enthusiasm for freedom has over the years just waned away and we are in a culture of surveillance and secrecy. For the common man, getting correct and accurate information under the Right to Information Act is today still a far cry.
As the Right to Information Act requires that the Information Commissioners have to be persons of Eminence in public life, Independent minded persons who do not succumb to political pulls and pressures need to be appointed as Information Commissioners to ensure the proper implementation of the Right to Information Act. If Yes-men manage to creep into as Information Commissioners it would be an exercise in futility ending up as white elephants that we would rather be better off without.
Under Section 4 of the RTI Act all public authorities are duty bound to regularly display on their website a wide range of information, including all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect the public. This proviso in the law was enacted to reduce the need for filing individual RTI applications. But this mandatory duty has been blatantly flouted by the authorities with most government websites themselves dysfunctional or not updated. What is the use of right to freedom of speech when the people do not have their rightful access to information?
The Judiciary needs to step in to ensure that the Government complies with the mandate of the RTI Act. But with the Courts themselves also averse to parting with information and with its functioning largely under a veil of secrecy, we are stonewalled.
But we need to battle it out and cannot allow the RTI Act to be choked by the government to a slow death. Steps need to be taken to strengthen the transparency regime that was sought to be established as envisaged by this Act. Effective implementation of the RTI Act requires political commitment from the very top. Officials denying information or giving misleading and distorted information need to be severely penalized.
Governance by cloak of secrecy and opaqueness needs to be strongly resisted. It cannot be a hush-hush regime. We need to dismantle those walls of secrecy that continue to hound transparency and good governance. In those very words of Narendra Modi 'Sabko sanmati de bhagwan' (Let good sense prevail).
Adv. Aires Rodrigues
C/G-2, Shopping Complex
Ribandar Retreat
Ribandar – Goa – 403006
Mobile No: 9822684372
Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012
Email: airesrodrigues1@gmail.com
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