W. Ezung, ATI, Kohima
Though the Indian Constitution got off to a roaring start with a bunch of awesome sounding fundamental rights, the right to information (RTI) was not one of them. The non-inclusion of RTI as a fundamental right, therefore, preserved the traditional, unquestioned right of government to maintain secrecy in its functioning by taking shelter under an Official Secrets Act (OSA) including the discretion to decide what is official and what is a secret. Citizen’s rights are, in a sense, an abridgement of the corresponding rights and authority of government. Right to access information held by public bodies is a fundamental human right, protected under constitutional law of India. It is accepted by supreme court that Right to information is an inherent part of Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under article 19(1)(a) and the Right to Life and Personal Liberty under article 21 of the Constitution. But then the question arises why we need a separate law for freedom of information when there is a constitutional provision. In spite of Constitutional Provisions, which guarantee fundamental rights we have not been able to create a culture and climate where values of freedom, rights and a democratic way of life are respected. One of the purposes of making laws like the right to information, which is primarily a human right, is to help create this culture.
Today, we are facing enormous problems; the executives have failed miserably in doing their duties properly and to look into people’s problems. Corruption seems to be prevalent everywhere. As a result, judiciary has to interfere through Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to avoid complete anarchy. Even today, the people have right to know what is happening to their applications made to the Government Departments, how much time it will take to process them and if rejected, reasons for such a rejection. Though, internal instructions have been issued by various Government Departments laying down a time frame for disposal of such applications, but in actual practice, it is not being adhered to. The public remained at the mercy of chance benevolent administrators in the absence of institutionalisation of accountability mechanisms. Thus, there is a need to have separate legislation on right of information of the people (based on Article 19 of the Indian Constitution) so that deliberate and unnecessary delay does not take place in disposal of the work, affecting the people. It will also help in cutting down delays and reduce corruption in various Government Departments.
Information in the possession of Government or its officers is not an end in itself. The information belongs to the public and held for the benefit of the public. Such information cannot be kept away from the citizens in an unreasonable manner. Realizing this fact, General Assembly of the United Nations, at its very inception resolved, “Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and touchstone for all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated”. Failure on the part of the State to provide its citizens with access to information is against democratic principles and their fundamental rights. Our democracy is not only representative put participative; and Right to Information Act (RTI Act 2005) is a major step in transition of our democracy from representative to participative.
Some of the uniqueness of the Right to Information Act is that it is the only Indian Act which does not have immunity even for the Prime Minister and the President of India. It may be pointed out that there are many Acts and Laws including the Indian Constitution wherein the Prime Minister and the President of India enjoy or have some immunity. Secondly, the RTI Act does not respect any hierarchy. And thirdly, the RTI Act is the only Act which is to be implemented by the public authorities including the Government and citizens supervise the implementation. It is actually a paradigm shift, the change in pattern.
Citizen’s Rights are a major indicator of a country’s progressiveness and human development. The key to successful functioning of any democratic polity is the ability of a citizen to observe and evaluate the functioning of elected representatives and make an informed judgment on their performance. This evaluation is predicated on the easy availability of the necessary information for a citizen to arrive at an assessment. The common man is at the center of intricate web of elaborate system of rights and obligations, a system of checks and balances, a system with clear division of powers at different levels of the Government further translated into practice by our laws, procedures, policies and programmes. It is the common man or common woman who is the fulcrum of our democratic system, as an observer, as the seeker of information, as the one who asks the relevant questions, as the analyst and as the final judge of our performance – the performance of the Government and its officers.
Therefore, right of information not only involves the right to seek information but also casts duty on the public authority and its officers to organize and make available information to the general public. Proactive disclosure of information therefore becomes an integral part of the right to information. This is an Act which reminds us that the government employees are not the master of the public but servants of the people. The government is there for the people and to serve the public. Also the domain of right to information does not end just at the government offices but also extends in a way to private bodies.
The main objective of providing information is not only to promote openness, transparency and accountability in administration but also to ensure participation of people in all the matters related to Governance. Right to information is a very effective tool in the hands of citizens to make the objectives of Good Governance (SMART) realizable. The RTI Act is a powerful tool which will help in combating corruption, bring about transparency & accountability, fairness in making decisions & policies, speedy file movements & office management, better records management, better CRM (Customer/Consumer Relation Management), e-governance, healthy financial management of the public authorities etc. The RTI Act has been passed, but it is not enough to have the Act passed and lean back waiting for miracles to happen. It is necessary to create a conducive environment as well as systematic support so that the Act comes alive as an accessible, effective tool of improved citizen’s interaction with the government.
