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RIGHT TO INFORMATION: AN ANALYTICAL STUDY

WITH REFERENCE TO GOOD GOVERNANCE

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AB

STRACTThe present research study has been modulated by making

a general study on the research problem Right to

Information: An Analytical Study with Reference to Good Governance. The

researcher has made an intensive study on the research

problem and tried to establish the synergy between

right to information and good governance. If people do

not know what is happening in their society, if the

actions of those who rule them are hidden, then they

cannot take meaningful part in the affairs of that

society. But information is not just a necessity for

people; it is an essential part of good governance.

Good governance requires the active engagement of all

groups of society. The best form of engagement and

participation is that which rests upon accurate and

timely information on State institutions. It can be

achieved by efficient and effective administration.

Good governance is a simply positive attitude of

Abstract P a g e | 2

governance where the policies and management is simply

a reflection of development goal. Access to information

promotes good governance, holds government accountable,

promotes a participatory democracy and open government

as well as a strong civil society and is instrumental

in fighting corruption and abuse of office. Importance

of open government was observed by eminent juristic

mind of the Nation, Bhagwati J., in S.P. Gupta V. Union of

India,1 in the following words: “Open government is the new

democratic culture of an open society towards which every liberal

democracy is moving and our country should be no exception”. Good

governance must be participatory, consensus oriented,

accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and

efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule

of law. Right to Information is one of the most

important methods of attainment of good governance

which is necessary for ensuring sustainable human

development. Good governance basically means emphasis

on transparency, accountability and check on corruption

which can be ensured by right to information.

In spite of the enactment of the Right to Information

Act, 2005, it is still difficult to access vital and

sensitive information’s. The Right to Information Act

imposes an obligation on public authorities under

section 4 (1) of the Act that every public authority

1 AIR, 1982 SC149, P.234

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shall maintain record’s for easy access and to publish

within 120 days of enactment of the statute and the

name of the particular officers who should give the

information and in regard to the framing of rules,

regulations etc. For this purpose, section 4 (3) states

that for the performance of sub-section (1), all

information shall be disseminate widely in such form

and manner which is easily accessible to the public,

but since the enactments of this Act in 2005 this

obligation still have not fully completed.

In the present scenario when maximum projects of

development is taking place in public-private

partnership (on PPP model) then it is needed to expand

the scope of the Act. Another problem is lack of

sincere efforts on part of the government regarding

capacity building of the PIOs and strengthening

measures for SICs by appointing more commissioners. In

the Right to Information Act, no such provisions are

provided for the protection of RTI activists and

applicants are often threatened and physically attacked

when they go to submit a RTI application or after

submitting it and due to lack of such protection’s many

RTI activists are paying their life for exposing

corruption. However the researcher has tried to find

out certain loopholes in the RTI Act 2005 which also

cover part of suggestions. These loopholes in the Act

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that cause ambiguity and confusions which if removed

can further improve the Act.

There are some problems relating to the term

“Substantially financed” used in section 2(h) (ii). In

the case of Committee of Management, Shanti Niketan Inter

College V. State of Uttar Pradesh,2 the Allahabad High Court

has held that the word “substantially financed” in section

2(h) (ii) clearly means that the institution concerned

has not to be one hundred present financed by the

State. Here the object of the Act was to cover

those institutions which even indirectly receive

funds from the Government. Madras High Court also

said in Tamil Nadu Road Development Co. Ltd. V. Tamil Nadu

Information Commission3 that Tamil Nadu Road

Development Company Ltd. Substantially financed to

certain extent. Word substantially financed in

Section 2 (h) not to be construed as higher

percentage of estimated amount of otherwise

financing assistance and also exclusive privilege

conferred on company in exclusion of others to lay

the road, which is one of the governmental

functions of public importance clearly shows that

company is a public authority.

Section 2(h) explains what comes under the purview

of the term “public authority” but it does not2AIR 2009, Allahabad 73 AIR 2009 (NOC) 255 MAD

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give a comprehensive idea and creates ambiguities

which pose problems for the Information Commission

to decide the nature of an authority.

Andhra Pradesh High Court held the new dimension

of definition of “information” as prescribed under

Sec.2 (f) of the act. In Sri Bhavana rishi Co-op. House

building Society v. HACA Bhavan, Hydrabad4 that information

concerning private body also forms part of

information provided such information is liable or

capable of being accessed by public authority

under any law in force. Delhi High Court also laid

down the liberal interpretation of word

“information” in Pooran Prajna Public School v. Central

Information Commission5 that scheme for management of

private school and minutes of the management

committee once circulated to officer of

Directorate of Education; have to be regarded as

“information” accessible to Directorate of

Education. In Thalapalam Service Co-operative bank Ltd. V.

Union of India6 Kerala High court held that

information relating to co-operative society, can

be accessed by registrar, co-operative societies

who have deep pervasive and effective control over

co-operative societies, although co-operative

4 AIR (2010) AP 1275 AIR 2010 (NOC) 728 (Del)6 AIR 2010 Ker 6 (DB)

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societies are private bodies but these are under

registrar of co-operative society, which is a

government department, thus registrar is under

legal obligation to provide the information

related to co-operative societies.

Another discrepancy in this Act is under Section

117 that whether the third party’s denial is the

7 Section 11of RTI Act, (1) Where a Central Public Information Officeror a State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, intendsto disclose any information or record, or part thereof on a requestmade under this Act, which relates to or has been supplied by athird party and has been treated as confidential by that third party,the Central Public Information Officer or State Public InformationOfficer, as the case may be, shall, within five days from thereceipt of the request, give a written notice to such third partyof the request and of the fact that the Central Public InformationOfficer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be,intends to disclose the information or record, or part thereof, andinvite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally,regarding whether the information should be disclosed, and suchsubmission of the third party shall be kept in view while takinga decision about disclosure of information:Provided that except in the case of trade or commercial secretsprotected by law, disclosure may be allowed if the public interest indisclosure outweighs in importance any possible harm or injury to theinterests of such third party.(2)Where a notice is served by the Central Public InformationOfficer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be,under sub-section (1) to a third party in respect of any informationor record or part thereof, the third party shall, within ten daysfrom the date of receipt of such notice, be given the opportunity tomake representation against the proposed disclosure.(3)Notwithstanding anything contained in section 7, the CentralPublic Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, asthe case may be, shall, within forty days after receipt of the requestunder section 6, if the third party has been given an opportunity tomake representation under sub-section (2), make a decision as towhether or not to disclose the information or record or part thereofand give in writing the notice of his decision to the third party.(4) Anotice given under sub-section (3) shall include a statement that thethird party to whom the notice is given is entitled to prefer anappeal under section 19 against the decision.

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final verdict because when it comes to disclosure

of information pertaining to the third party, its

consent is required to be taken and in most of the

cases they refuse to disclose the information

stating the reason of it being an encroachment on

their privacy and the Public Information Officer

(PIO) abide by it blindly without weighing the

ramifications on the general public. Instead, the

PIO is supposed to determine whether the

information is exempt under the provisions of the

Act and only if it deems to be an exemption stated

under Section 8 of the Act can the third party’s

denial be considered valid while in some cases,

right to privacy virtually fades out in front of

the ‘Right to Information’ and ‘larger public

interest’. Thus, it calls for a balanced and fair

outlook which would facilitate reasonable

decisions.

It might be feasible, but the provision of taking

fees for disclosing the information seems to be

against the spirit of the right and the Act too.

It is quite paradoxical that a person has to pay

for availing information which is a fundamental

human right, which has been consecrated even by

the Constitution.

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There have been grievances of the applicants that

information is not provided to them in their

regional languages and this is against the

statutory sprit contained in section 6 (1) of the

Act.

Logical reasons for the rejection of the requests

seeking information are not being provided as

required by s. 7 (8) of the Act8. Moreover,

exemption clause contained in s. 8 of the Act is

being misused to veil the misdeeds in the name of

secrecy essential for national security, integrity

etc.

Although the Act bestows power upon the CIC and

SIC to impose penalties of Rs. 250 up to Rs. 25000

on erring officials indulging in unreasonable non

disclosure of information. But it does not have

such a deterrent effect on the power wielding

officials. However, recommendation for

disciplinary action is seemingly effective but

even it is not sufficient for the strict

implementations of the RTI Act, 2005. Lack of such

teeth which may bite the officials through the

rigours of law and enable the establishment of an8 As defined by Sec 7(8) of RTI Act Where a request has been rejectedunder sub section (i) the Central Public Information Officer or StatePublic Information Officer, as the case may be, shall communicate tothe person making the request,—the reasons for such rejection; (ii) theperiod within which an appeal against such rejection may be preferred;and (iii) the particulars of the appellate authority

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accountable and transparent regime.

For the disposal of the second appeal9 no time

period is fixed and all because of which

sometimes it takes more than one or two year

times to dispose of the final appeal.

Exemption provides under section 24 to the

security and intelligence agencies are

irrational and contrary to national interest.

This exemption should be removed not by

amendment of the act but by withdrawing the list

of notified agencies in the 2nd schedule of the

9 As define in Section 19. (1) Any person who, does not receive adecision within the time specified in sub- section (1) or clause (a) ofsub-section (3) of section 7, or is aggrieved by a decision of theCentral Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer,as the case may be, may within thirty days from the expiry of suchperiod or from the receipt of such a decision prefer an appeal to suchofficer who is senior in rank to the Central Public InformationOfficer or State Public Information Officer as the case may be, in eachpublic authority:Provided that such officer may admit the appeal after the expiry of theperiod of thirty days if he or she is satisfied that the appellant wasprevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.(2)Where an appeal is preferred against an order made by a CentralPublic Information Officer or a State Public Information Officer, as thecase may be, under section 11 to disclose third party information, theappeal by the concerned third party shall be made within thirty daysfrom the date of the order.(3)A second appeal against the decision under sub-section (1) shall liewithin ninety days from the date on which the decision should have beenmade or was actually received, with the Central Information Commissionor the State Information Commission:Provided that the Central Information Commission or the StateInformation Commission, as the case may be, may admit the appeal afterthe expiry of the period of ninety days if it is satisfied that theappellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal intime.

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RTI act.

More importantly, given the need for

transformation investments in India’s defence

capabilities over the next several years, it

stands to reason that the armed forces must

demonstrate a much higher degree of transparency

and openness than now, and in comparison to other

government bodies. Instead of demanding blanket

immunity from RTI they should have sought

exemption of only sensitive operational

information; that would have been justified.

Before discussing the suggestion and recommendation

which researcher would like to present before the

board, the researcher has divided the entire

research work in seven chapters.

PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH WORK

Chapter-1: Introduction

Chapter-2: Freedom of Information as a Global movement:

An overview

Chapter-3: Constitutional and Judicial Roots of Right

to Information in India

Chapter-4: An Analysis of Provisions of Right to

Information Act, 2005 and Working of Right to

Information Act in India.

Chapter-5: Movement for Right to Information and

Peoples Empowerment.

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Chapter-6: Right to Information and Good Governance.

Chapter-7: Conclusion and Suggestions.

The study will broadly follow the following scheme:

Chapter I briefly introduces the topic and analyses the

importance of the right to information. It seeks to

demonstrate the need for and the unique role played by

information in a civil society and the fact that

information is a public good that we all own

collectively. People have a right to have access to the

information held by the public agencies; to seek it and

also to receive it. Information is the right of every

common man and the state cannot deny it. The chapter

talks about the Right to Information Act being a potent

weapon in the hands of citizens in their fight for

cleaner and more open governance.

Chapter II deals with Freedom of Information as a Global

movement: An overview. It sets down the international

as well as regional human rights instruments that form

the legal framework for the protection of the right to

information. The study reveals that in a number of

countries, freedom of information, including the right

to access information held by the State, has been

recognized at the constitutional level, either by

courts, which have interpreted general guarantees of

freedom of expression as including it or through

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specific constitutional provisions A number of

countries have established laws relating to the freedom

of information. The study has been taken the

legislative trend in this regard countries like Sweden,

US, UK, Australia, Canada and India. It not only looks

at the specific protections to the freedom of

information but also at the way right to information is

being given increasing recognition in more recent human

rights treaties.

Chapter III discusses the Constitutional and Judicial

Roots of Right to Information in India that led to the

passing of the Right to Information Act, 2005, that is to

say, from the constitutional protection to the

enactment of a right to information law. In Bennett

Coleman & Co. V. Union of India,10 Case the Supreme Court struck

down the newsprint control order, which restricted the

allotment of newsprint to newspaper and held that such

a restrictions had not only infringed newspaper’s right

to freedom of speech but also the reader’s right to

read. So, also in Indian Express Newspapers v. Union of India,11

Case held that freedom of press and information was

vital for realization of human right. In The Secretary,

Ministry of Information and broadcasting V. Cricket Association of West

Bengal,12 the Supreme Court made it clear that the right10 AIR (1973) SC 10611 (1985)1 SCC 64112 AIR (1995)1236, 1995 SCC(2) 161

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to acquire information and to disseminate it is

included in Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution In

Union of India V. Association for Democratic Reforms13 with People’s

Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and others V. Union of India Case14 it was

held that the voter had right to information about the

antecedents of electoral candidate. Supreme Court in

Reliance Petrochemical Ltd. V. Indian Express Newspapers, Bombay Pvt.

Ltd,15 the court observed “We must remember that the

people at large have a right to know in order to be

able to take part in a participatory development in the

Industrial life and democracy. In the case of State of U.P.

vs. Raj Narain,16 the Court here laid down "the doctrine

of 'Public Interest' under which the State would not

have veil of immunity from disclosing an official

document in public”, the Supreme Court has taken

cognizance to lifting the veil of corruption and

established the importance of right to information. In

Dinesh Trivedi v. Union of India,17 emphasizing the importance of

this right, Court observed “Democracy expects openness and

openness is concomitant of a free society and the sunlight is the best

disinfectant.” The survey in the above case clearly

demonstrate the right to information which is sine quo-

non of participatory democracy is implicit as

13AIR 2001 Del.126 14 AIR 2002 SC 144215 AIR (1989) 190, (1988) SCR Supl. (3) 21216 AIR (1975) 865,1975 SCR(3) 33317AIR (1994) 4SCC306,314

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guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Indian

Constitution. Thus an attempt has been be made to

discuss the rulings on a particular issue and indicate

the current stance of the information commissions and

courts on it. It also highlights how all efforts are

being directed to ensure that accountability shall

target mismanagement, abuse of discretion, corruption

and other administrative malpractices.

Chapter IV analyses the salient features of the Right to

Information Act, 2005 and working of Right to Information

in India. This chapter aims to analyse inter alia who all

are covered by the 2005 Act; what information is

accessible under the Act; how information can be

accessed in practice; what options people have if they

are not given the information they want; and how people

can get involved and ensure that the Act is implemented

effectively to make the Government more accountable,

efficient and responsive. Comprises an assessment of

all that has been gained in the movement for the

furtherance of right to information and also what needs

to be done to further strengthen it by overcoming the

challenges that come up in the way of its effective

enforcement and application

Chapter V discusses the Movement for Right to

Information and Peoples Empowerment that led to the

passing of the Right to Information Act, 2005, that is to

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say, from the constitutional protection to the

enactment of a right to information law. It traces the

events that expedited the passage of the 2005 Act,

which provided the citizens of our country an important

instrument to ensure transparency in governance. The

right to information is a key tool for enabling

citizens to participate in the political processes of

their country. An instrument, which if used wisely, can

bring a remarkable change in the socio-economic as well

as in the political arena of the nation, laying the

foundation for good governance, embodying openness,

transparency, responsiveness and participation of the

citizens. The trend in improvement in delivery of

services, due to the perceived good governance,

provides sufficient indication for alleviation of

poverty, good health and liquidation of illiteracy in

a much shorter duration than envisaged for the

realization of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).18

Chapter VI Right to Information and Good Governance

focuses how the Good governance requires the active

engagement of all groups of society. Good governance is

a simply positive attitude of governance where the

18The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight internationaldevelopment goals that were established following the MillenniumSummit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption ofthe United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 189 United Nationsmember states at the time (there are 193 currently), and at least23 international organizations, committed to help achieve the followingMillennium Development Goals by 2015

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policies and management is simply a reflection of

development goal. The researcher has tried to

establish the correlation between Right to Information

and good governance. The researcher has also discussed

in detail RTI and good governance in the context of

globalization, liberalization and privatization RTI is

one of the most important methods of attainment of good

governance which is necessary for ensuring sustainable

human development. In fact, development is human right

oriented. The Act has laid emphasis on good

governance, of which the major elements that have been

identified are: informed citizenry for encouraging

people’s participation in development process,

transparency, accountability and reduction in

corruption.

Chapter VII comprises conclusion and suggestions for the

effective application and implementation of right to

information. It discusses the various possibilities of

better enforcement of the RTI Act. It examines the ways

in which the right to information can practically be

implemented at the national level. From the

constitutional protection to the enactment of the RTI

Act, it explores the ways public can protect their

right to know. An endeavour has been made to discuss

some of the prominent challenges before the information

law and to chart out a possible solution or a road map

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ahead for the effective implementation of this

legislation, which has the potential to revolutionize

the governance and administration of our country, by

making all public authorities perfectly accountable and

transparent in their dealings. There is no doubt that

the RTI Act has empowered the people and has made the

rights of people, in all spheres whether it is

economic, social or political more enforceable and

approachable. But after making the thorough and depth

analysis of all the chapters the researcher has made

certain findings which also involves certain key issues

with reference to RTI Act 2005, and accordingly has put

forward certain suggestions and recommendations to make

the RTI Act more effective and participative for the

masses at large.

Recommendations and Suggestions: On the basis of the study made in preceding chapters

the following suggestions can be made:

Sensitization and Public Awareness

It is quite striking that unawareness about RTI in

rural areas is very high. The applications within the

Act are mostly file the educated classes and urban

people.

The Act mentions the responsibility of the

“appropriate” Government to develop and organize

educational programmes to advance the understanding of

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the public, and the disadvantaged communities in

particular.19 It is to recommend that the Government of

India should establish RTI as a “brand” through a mass

awareness campaign (there are already a few strong

brands in Government schemes such as MNREGA, family

planning, consumer awareness etc). To take care of

linguistic and local relevance, the awareness campaign

has been recommended both at Central and State levels.

In order to facilitate filing RTI requests and appeals, the following

alternate can be considered.20

RTI Call Centres: These have already been implemented

in some states and are in the process of being

implemented (e.g. in Bihar, Haryana). This is a

convenient channel wherein the RTI application is taken

by the call centre and payment of fee is included in

the telephone bill.

RTI Portal: In this case the information request can be19 Sec 26 (1) The appropriate Government may, to the extent ofavailability of financial and other resources,—(a) develop and organizeeducational programmes to advance the understanding of the public, inparticular of disadvantaged communities as to how to exercise therights contemplated under this Act; (b)encourage public authorities toparticipate in the development and organization of programmes referredto in clause (a) and to undertake such programmes themselves;(c)promotetimely and effective dissemination of accurate information by publicauthorities about their activities; and(d)train Central PublicInformation Officers or State Public Information Officers, as the casemay be, of public authorities and produce relevant training materialsfor use by the public authorities themselves.20 Understanding the “Key Issues and Constraints” in implementing the RTIAct’ by Price water house Coopers (PWC) who were engaged by theDepartment of Personnel and Training (DoPT) (2009) Report available athttp://rti.gov.in/rticorner/studybypwc/index-study.htm (last visited on 25.12. 2014).

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made through the RTI portal. Various State Governments

have already started planning the implementation of

this recommendation. The RTI portal should contain

links to all Ministry and Department websites of the

appropriate Government. The Ministry and Departments

should provide a comprehensive list of agencies and

offices under its control and a link (or a webpage)

which contains all the suo-moto information desired in

Section 4(1) (b).21 21 Sec 4 (1) Every public authority shall—a)maintain all its recordsduly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form whichfacilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that allrecords that are appropriate to be computerised are, within areasonable time and subject to availability of resources,computerised and connected through a network all over the country ondifferent systems so that access to such records is facilitated;(b)publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment ofthis Act,— a. the particulars of its organisation, functions andduties; b. the powers and duties of its officers and employees; c. theprocedure followed in the decision making process, including channelsof supervision and accountability; d. the norms set by it for thedischarge of its functions; e. the rules, regulations, instructions,manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by itsemployees for discharging its functions; f. a statement of thecategories of documents that are held by it or under its control; g.the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with,or representation by, h. the members of the public in relation to theformulation of its policy or implementation thereof; i. a statement ofthe boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two ormore persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice,and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees andother bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetingsare accessible for public; j. a directory of its officers andemployees; k. the monthly remuneration received by each of itsofficers and employees, including the system of compensation asprovided in its regulations; l. the budget allocated to each of itsagency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expendituresand reports on disbursements made; m. the manner of execution ofsubsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and n. the detailsof beneficiaries of such programmes; o. particulars of recipients ofconcessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; p. details inrespect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an

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Infrastructure Development & Capacity Building22

It is very important for the Information

providers to understand how well equipped the

Government and PA machinery is to respond to the needs

of the RTI. This was analyze from various aspects like

training and knowledge, usage of IT, availability of

basic infrastructure (like availability of photocopier

at Panchayat level) etc, and whether adequate budgets

existed to address the limitation.

The ARC report23 had suggested that as a onetime

measure, Government of India should earmark 1% of the

funds of all Flagship Programmes24 for a period of five

years for updating records, improving infrastructure,

creating manuals etc (an amount not exceeding 25% of

this should be utilized for awareness generation).

electronic form; q. the particulars of facilities available tocitizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of alibrary or reading room, if maintained for public use; r. the names,designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers;such other information as may be prescribed; and thereafter update thesepublications every year.22 Understanding the “Key Issues and Constraints” in implementing the RTIAct’ by Price water house Coopers (PWC) who were engaged by theDepartment of Personnel and Training (DoPT) (2009) Report available athttp://rti.gov.in/rticorner/studybypwc/index-study.htm (last visited on 25.12. 2014)23 Right to Information: Master key to good governance, first report ofsecond administrative reform commission, June, 200624 Eight flagship programmes are: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Mid-day MealScheme, Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, Total SanitationCampaign, National Rural Health Mission, Integrated Child Services,National Rural Employment Scheme and Jawarharlal Nehru NationalUrban Renewal Mission

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Enhancing Efficiencies at Information Commission 25

The appeal process is a key component of the RTI Act.

Improving the disposal rate of complaints and appeals

by Information Commission the CIC, as per Section 12(7)

and SIC, as per Section 15(7), with the approval of the

appropriate Government should open offices at other

locations, so as to reach out to the masses.

There is need to Incorporate Private Sector within the

ambit of the RTI Act

The increasing trend of privatization is bound to

narrow the scope the impact of the right to

information. Therefore, the law must make it binding

on private bodies to proactively disclose certain

kinds of information that could affect the public

health, safety, environment etc. Penalties may be

imposed on those private bodies which do not fulfil

this obligation whilst carrying out activities

affecting the public and environmental health and

safety. In this context, it is crucial to recognize

that the media in India is a public institution that

is almost totally under private control. The greatest

anomaly about the Indian media today is that virtually

nothing is known about its financial structure. Thus,

certain checks needs to be introduced on media so25 State of Information Commissioners in India – A PerformanceEvaluation’ by Public Cause Research Foundation (2009) Report availableat http://www.rtiawards.org/images/final_report.pdf Last visited on 25 .122014

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that the information is not used against public

interest and in order to ensure this media should also

come under the purview of RTI.

Institutionalizing third party audit

It is strongly felt that in the absence of a strong

review mechanism, there is a high probability that the

level of RTI implementation would regress to lower

levels.

To ensure better service delivery by authorities

and officials, third party audits should be

institutionalized to support the Information

Commission in carrying out responsibilities under

Section 19(8)(a), 25(1), 25(2), 25(3f), 25(3g) and

25(5).

Monitoring and Supervision

There is also need strong and robust monitoring and

evaluation system. It will help periodically review

implementation of the law and provide feedback to

government agencies to address the shortcomings.

With a view to realizing the development goals through goodgovernance, the followings are suggested to strengthen the RTIregime:

First, all the development projects, particularly

poverty alleviation programmes should incorporate

transparency and accountability norms to allow for

objective scrutiny of the process of execution of

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programmes and to assess the extent of adherence of the

norms of equity and justice in delivery of essential

services to the persons who are entitled for the

specified benefits.26

Second, with a view to reaping the benefits of RTI for

rapid poverty reduction, the Government should develop

the capacities for access to information. The

capacities of both the public authorities (i.e. the

duty – bearers) and the citizens (i.e. the claim

holders) may have to be enhanced, for which a two-

pronged strategy would be needed. A comprehensive

Information Management System should be developed by

each public authority for storage and retrieval of data

and information that may be shared with anyone who

seeks to inspect the records and use the information

for development purposes. Use of information

technologies would not only facilitate faster

dissemination of information but would also reduce the

costs of servicing and sharing information.27 .

Good governance cannot be realised unless a comprehensive solution is

sought when the socio cultural characteristics of the society are taken into

consideration.

26 ‘Right to Information and Good Governance by Rajbir Singh27 http://www.isidelhi.org.in/hrnews/isidownload/Nhrc/Rti/RTI-2008.pdf

Abstract P a g e |

24

Two broad areas for intervention can be suggested

Policy and system Oriented approach and Strategic

Grass- Rooted Cultural approach.

Suggestions relating to the quasi-judicial and

Administrative functions of the CIC

Institutional analysis of statutory or constitutional

bodies, particularly like CIC which are judicial or

quasi-judicial in nature, is measured in terms of pendency

of cases (or how long a case takes to come up before

that body In the long run, pendency creates a medium

through which officials can exercise discretion which

would otherwise not exist.28 However, if some appellant

persists through phone calls and personal visits to

the CIC, the complaint may have a higher chance of

being considered. With growing demands on time, the

staff of the CIC would be compelled to priorities

cases, and in the absence of any reasonable guidelines,

they might (knowingly or unknowingly) resort to

discretionary tactics.29

Notwithstanding the above mentioned deficiencies,

apprehensions and operational shortcomings, the RTI28 Pratap Bhanu Mehta, ‘India’s Judiciary: The Promise of Uncertainty’in Public institutions in india: Peformance and design (Devesh Kapurand Pratap Bhanu Mehta, eds., Oxford University Press, New Delhi,2005) 188.Point of discussion during interview with Dr. Pratap BhanuMehta, President,Centre for Policy Research.29RevisedExecutiveSummaryavailableathttp://www.rtigateway.org.in/Documents/References/English/Reports/8.%20RaaG%0study_exe_summary%20-%20revised pdflast visited on 25 July 2014

Abstract P a g e |

25

Act has certainly proved to be an important milestone

and a major step towards ensuring a participatory and

a transparent development process in the country. Our

Government has also launched a national e-governance

plan to make all the government services accessible to

the common man. The Central Government as well as a

number of State Governments in India has provided

substantive information on their websites in order to

increase awareness and promote transparency in

governance. While many government departments

increasingly making the information available to the

citizens through e-governance, the functioning of the

government in India has today become more efficient,

effective and transparent.

What should be the degree of transparency in the

age of e-governance and internet that can be

maintained in compatibility with the safeguarding of

the security interests of a nation, is a moot question

to be given due thought by all the stakeholders. New

technologies and new codes of conducts need to be

evolved to ensure that the fundamental principle of

transparency prevails in the interest of public good

and, at the same time, parameters are evolved to

circumscribe transparency in case where national

security and public interest is involved. The challenge

of balancing transparency in governance and national

Abstract P a g e |

26

security is certainly common to all democratic

countries

The people’s right to information, despite being

one of the most cherished human rights, has largely

been disregarded by most of the countries throughout

the world. To promote transparency in public life,

India has enacted legislation in the form of the Right

to Information Act, 2005 which makes the Governments

liable to provide desired information within a

stipulated time frame. Under this legislation, every

government department has set up a separate

institutional mechanism to deal with the requests for

information from the citizens of the country. This

legislation had indeed ushered in a new era of

transparency and good governance in our country and,

hopefully, it will go a long way in enlightening and

empowering the common man his role in various

governance processes.

It is, therefore, to infer and conclude that much

constitutional protection have been granted to promote

and protect the right to information, as well as the

peoples have become more empowered through the RTI Act

2005, for bringing a better tomorrow to upgrade human

civilization. We need to sustain the momentum of this

legislation and should not allow it to die down or

to become just another piece of legislation

Abstract P a g e |

27

languishing on paper. It is in the interest of all

the stakeholders to remain committed and vigilant so

that the objectives of the Act do not get frustrated by

bureaucratic manipulations. We need to strengthen the

values and culture of openness so as to have good

healthy democratic governance where everyone has the

right to know and to be heard in a fair and impartial

manner. This shall perhaps be our greatest

contribution to strengthen our democracy.

The researcher therefore feels that the study which has

been completed would prove to be a seminal work under

the broader ambit of legal academia.

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