Hekani Jakhalu
What is Right to Information?
The right to information simply means being able to get information that is held by the government whose activities affect the public. Right to information is the citizen’s power tool for transparency and accountability. It is a fundamental right of citizen to have access to government held information for a democratic functioning. It is important for a citizen to participate in governance which means participation not only in election but also when decisions on policy, laws and schemes are being made, implemented or evaluated for impact. Such involvement not only enhances the quality of the government but also accountability in government functioning.
In a democracy the challenge lies in creating an environment that will ensure that people can freely determine their political, economic, social and cultural systems by participating in all aspects of decision- making that effects their lives. Information is crucial for empowering people to participate in governance and control of their lives. The lack of access to relevant information disempowers a person and impinges on his/her ability to avail opportunities and benefits that are their due and on their right to live in a society free of oppression and corruption.
Right to Information Act 2005
The Right to Information Act 2005 came into being in July 2005. The origins of the Act date back to the struggles of the rural poor in Rajasthan who started questioning the doctored accounts in their panchayat: fake bills and muster rolls, non-existent buildings, and missing bags of cement meant for public works. For the first time, the demand for the right to information acquired a new meaning and form; shifting out of its dusty textbook, seminar-room existence, it focused on real issues - drought, employment, health, education, electoral politics and so on. The right to information movement in India, unlike in many other countries, is a truly grassroots movement
The main objective of this Act is to provide a transparent government, to promote openness, transparency and accountability in government and ensure effective participation of people in administration. This Act is applicable to the whole of India (with the exception of Jammu and Kashmir). The Act purports to cover ‘all public authorities’. These have been broadly defined to include any body established or constituted by a law of the central or state government, which covers all Municipal and local bodies as well. Public authorities also include any body owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government and any non-governmental organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by a government.
It also the duty of public authorities to publish a list of information in addition to the standard provisions. This would include vis-à-vis the budget allocated to each agency, including plans, proposed expenditure and reports on disbursement, the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and beneficiaries, recipient of concessions, permits, licenses and relevant facts while formulation policy or announcing decisions.
What can we use RTI Act for?
The Right to Information Act 2005 can be used for a variety of purpose, both personal and to tackle community or State government issues. For example:
• Parents can ask for details of grants made to government aided schools to ensure that funds are being spent properly or
• Check that admissions are not being bought through bribes or funds meant for education through bribes directed for other purpose,
• Small business people can find out what basis licenses and/or tax concessions and subsidies are granted and who has been getting them from the government. They can also check that government is granting licenses/concessions/subsidies on the basis of properly applied criteria,
• People can check on the progress of their applications for government services e.g.; by checking the status of an application for an electricity or water connection, including what officials have handled the file, over what period of time and what action they took.
• What is the attendance of teachers each day in government schools etc.
Good governance
It is time we should focus on breaking down old culture of secrecy and develop a mindset and attitude in public officials that is pro-openness.
The reality is that up to 85 per cent of the money allocated to food rations, sanitation, or education is siphoned off by people at all levels of government. Funds meant for development do not reach their destination and are siphoned off in between. Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister, once said that only 15% of the fundsreach the beneficiaries.
Poor governance is one of the single biggest contributing factors to social, environmental and economic distress.
Misappropriation and lack of accountability for public money keeps the poorest poor. If this is the problem, one solution lies with common people reclaiming a share in power and decisions.
Accountability in a democracy means, among other things, that every citizen must have a right to answers. It presupposes a transparency in the public functioning of those who hold the reins of power whether it is at the village and township level, or at the State and national level. Transparency and accountability in governance have a direct impact on issues of survival in the poorest communities including their right to food, shelter, health, environment and livelihood.
An effective RTI Act will force a culture of transparency, which is mandatory for good governance.
For instance, the actual working out of system or a project can be made transparent and one can challenge the conditionality of selections and there need not be any more incidents like the NPSC scandal.
Check corruption
Corruption is rampant in Nagaland and all over India. It is almost impossible to get any work done in any government office without paying bribes. If you do not pay bribe, unnecessary objections would be raised and you would be made to run around.
But now we have an option. We don’t need to pay bribes anymore to get our legitimate work done in any government department. The simple act of demanding to know the status of our grievance petition and the names of the officials who have been sitting on your file does wonders.
People have also been making a difference in the quality of works carried out by the government in their area. Absent clerks turned up for duty when their attendance registers were sought. Incomplete works were completed and quality of works improved when copies of contracts of the works were sought.
MLA was forced to release money for a work demanded by the people, when the people obtained details of expenditure made by her out of her MLA Development Fund. A number of ghost works were found when copies of contracts of all the works carried out by the government in an area were obtained.
Right to Information is also redefining the relationships between the people and the governments. Till now, the people had to run around the government officials to get any work sanctioned or to get any work done in their area. Not any more.
Right to Information provides such critical information and evidence in the hands of the common man that equipped with this evidence, a person is able to take on the most entrenched vested interests.
The collective power of a people’s experience in participatory democracy has vastly strengthened the right to information campaign in states like Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka. It now needs to be recognized as an inviolable and fundamental right in Nagaland too.
