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Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University

Final Draft

Right to Information Act, 2005

Submitted To- Ms. Deepika Urmaliya Submitted from- Anurag(Asst. Prof. Language of law) 2ndSemester; B.A., LL.B (hons.) Section-A Roll no- 29 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Any accomplishment requires effort of many people and this work is no different. I take this opportunity to thank - Ms. Deepika Urmaliya (Asst. Professor) for providing me valuable training and guidance at the various stages of my project.I will also remain highly indebted to the librarian for providing the requisite research material.Lastly I am thankful to all my colleagues who have given time to help me during the completion of the project.

Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION..........4 CHAPTERISATION4-14

R.T.I-Meaning and Concept...5 Role played by key stakeholders6 Achieving transparency and holding corruption through RTI...7

Key issues and constraints in implementing the RTI Act..9

R.T.I- Functioning.....11

CONCLUSION...13 BIBLIOGRAPHY..15

Introduction:

At the International level, Right to Information and its aspects find articulation as a human right in most important basic human rights documents, namely, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. At regional levels, there are numerous other human rights documents, which include this fundamental right for example, the European for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the American Convention on Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, etc. The Commonwealth has also formulated principles on freedom of information[footnoteRef:1]. The Indian Parliament had enacted the Freedom of Information Act, 2002 in order to promote, transparency and accountability in administration. The National Common Minimum Program of the Government envisaged that Freedom of Information Act will be made more progressive, participatory and meaningful, following which, decision was made to repeal the Freedom of Information Act, 2002 and enact a new legislation in its place. Accordingly, Right to Information Bill, 2004 (RTI) was passed by both the Houses of Parliament on May, 2005 which received the assent of the President on 15th June, 2005. The Right to Information Act was notified in the Gazette of India on 21st June, 2005. The The Right to Information Act became fully operational from 12th October, 2005. Though, the Act was recognised since 1973 by supreme court in a case[footnoteRef:2] as a concomitant of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under art 19(1)(a) [footnoteRef:3].This new law empowers Indian citizens to seek any accessible information from a Public Authority and makes the Government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible. [1: http://www.article19.org/org/pdfs/publications] [2: Bennet coleman V India AIR 1973 SC 106] [3: Constitution of India]

During the period of the implementation of the RTI Act i.e. October 2005 onwards, it has become evident that there are many anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the Act. These have manifested themselves in various forms, While some of the issues pertain to procedural aspects of the Government; others pertain to capacity building, and so on. The most important aspect to be recognized is that there are issues to be addressed at various ends for effective implementation of the Act.

3. Chapterisation:

3.1 R.T.I- Meaning and concept An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.[footnoteRef:4] [4: Right to Information ACT 2005]

Right to Information is an Act to provide for freedom to every citizen to secure access to Information under the control of public authorities, consistent with Public interest, in order to promote openness, transparency and accountability in administration and in relation to matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION Bill was passed by the Parliament on 13thMay, 2005. The Bill got the Presidential accent on 15thJune to become the Right to Information, Act, 2005. It is an Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. Informed citizenry and transparency of information are vital to the functioning of Democracy. The Act provides for a system of accountability of the Government towards those who are governed and would benefit in increasing transparency and containing corruption. The actual practice of the Act is likely to conflict with other public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information; but the need is to harmonize this conflicting interest while preserving the paramount of the democratic ideal. In an effort to bring about transparency and accountability and to transform the Right of Information Act into an act that empowers the people, the Ministry of Information and broadcasting has made an attempt to provide certain information to citizens to empower them to exercise their Right to Information. The Ministry in its effort to decentralize information has made all Media Units, Public Sector Enterprises and Autonomous Bodies responsible for dissemination of Information. These organizations will have their separate set up for public to gain information on issues pertaining to the unit.

3.2 Role played by key stakeholders

RTI Act has the potential to bring in a socio-economic revolution, provided that various agencies take up their responsibilities as per the spirit of the Act. The Civil Society Organizations and Media can act as pressure points, but most of the execution is to be carried out by The appropriate Governments and Information Commissions. Based on the secondary research and discussions with key stakeholders, the key roles played by various entities are: Civil Society Organizations. Civil Society Organizations and social activists are enhancing the reach and awareness of RTI among the masses. It is mostly with the support of the social activists and Civil Society Organizations that a person in a village is able to use the RTI Act for ensuring his Basic rights. However given the geographical size & population, the reach of Civil Society Organizations and social activists is limited. Civil society has also made contribution towards training of PIOs and AAs and made them aware of their roles and responsibilities under the RTI Act. Media Media has played an important role in generating awareness at a mass scale. While there has been no major media campaign for promoting the usage of RTI Act, nonetheless the awareness on the Act has been generated through news articles based on RTI investigation. In the context of RTI implementation, journalists at times have played a dual role as the users of RTI Act and as watchdogs, monitoring and scrutinizing the implementation of the Act. Various media entities have contributed to the mass awareness and bringing in transparency through their websites. Central Government Basic institutional structure/processes has been set up as per the RTI act requirement (like appointment of Information Commissioners, PIOs, section 4(1) (b) etc.) Department of Personnel & Training has been made the Nodal Department for the RTI implementation at the Central level.

State Government Various State Governments had already enacted laws for access to information in some form or the other, like Tamil Nadu (1997), Goa (1997), Rajasthan (2000), Karnataka (2000), Delhi (2001), Maharashtra (2002), Madhya Pradesh (2003), Assam (2002) and Jammu and Kashmir (2004). Post the enactment of the Central Act, some State Governments have taken innovative initiatives in line with the spirit of the Act. The key initiatives are: - Jankari Call Centre, Government of Bihar: Bihar Government has initiated a six seater call centre. This call centre facilitates a caller in drafting the RTI application and the fee is collected through the phone bill. Requisite changes have been made in the rules for acceptance of the application through this channel. Similarly RTI Helpline in Bangalore is providing RTI information to citizens.

3.3 Achieving transparency and holding corruption through RTIAccess to information acts are grounded in the recognition

That information in the control of public authorities is a Valuable public resource and that public access to such information promotes greater transparency and accountability Of those public authorities, and that this information is essential to the democratic process. The purpose of these acts, also known as access to information laws, is to make a government more open and accountable to its people. In transitional democracies, laws that give effect to the right to information are part of the process of transforming a country from one with a closed and authoritarian government to one governed by and for the people. During the period, October 2005 to present day, it has become evident that there are many anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the Act. RTI has become a weapon in the hands of common citizens to fight for their rights. It is not surprising that the usage of RTI has been in the areas where citizens had to struggle to get what was rightfully theirs.Panchayats/Municipal Departments/ Civic Bodies etc 39%

Other Government Ministries/departments operations 29%

Information about other business 6%

Taxation Related Issues 5%

Success stories under this Campaign[footnoteRef:5] [5: http://www.rti.gov.in]

Transparency in Public Distribution The Mere Gaon Ke Sawaal Campaign volunteers noticed that the residents of Nai Basti (Bahraich, UP) were also facing the same problems as the other economically backward villages of the region. The Kotedar had been apathetic towards their requests. The use of Right to Information by the villagers, the women being in majority, was successful in curbing the corruption that had seeped in the Public Distribution System to some extent. When the campaign volunteers saw the BPL ration cards of the villagers, they found that no entries had been made during February 2006 to December 2006. It was evident that the villagers had not received any ration in the said time period. Immediately, 51 village residents agreed to file group RTI applications on the issue and demanded information regarding the acquisition and the distribution of the ration and also asked for copies of the ration records. The applications were filed by the applicants personally after a lot of difficulty at the District Supply Office. Exactly within a fortnight, the Kotedar reached the village and narrated a long sob story, which moved few of the innocent villagers so much that they even agreed to take back their RTI applications. They very next day the Kotedar brought a mini bus to the village along with poor is made with one quintal flour and asked the villagers to come to the SDMs office and take back their RTI applications. But, the women of the forest village rights forum refused to do so. This initiative by the women of the village encouraged the other villagers and they also refused to take back their RTI applications. The Kotedar trying another of his tactics, one day announced in the village that all those who requested for information can collect it from him. When few villagers reached to take the information, they were forced to make thumb imprints on a blank paper. The Dehat Sanstha volunteers immediately reported this scam to the SDM. Finally, the Kotedar was suspended. Source: PACS Report The success stories range from highlighting scams worth crores to ensuring attendance of the sweepers in cities to identifying lost postal orders etc. The areas of corruption/ inefficiencies were known earlier in the Government, but citizens could not take recourse. However with the advent of the RTI Act, citizens have found a tool to bring in transparency and accountability at all levels of Governance. In particular, the RTI Act has a much higher impact on the quality of life of the poor and marginalised section of the society.

3.4 Key issues and constraints in implementing the RTI ActAs mentioned earlier, the The Right to Information Act became operational on 12th October, 2005. This law empowered Indian citizens to seek information from Public Authorities, thus making the Government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible. Unlike many other countries (for e.g. UK) which took several years to operationalise the Act post the enactment, India took only a few months to bring it into force. This time was inadequate to change the mindset of the people in Government, create infrastructure, develop new processes and build capacity to deliver information under this Act. This has led to implementation issues which need to be identified and addressed.Low public awareness[footnoteRef:6] [6: www.rtiindia.org/forum/25287-4-years-rti-awareness-low.html]

Low awareness level: Section 26 of the Act states that the appropriate Government may develop and organize educational programmes to advance the understanding of the public, especially disadvantaged communities, regarding how to exercise the rights contemplated under the Act. However, as per the survey it was revealed that only 15% of the respondents were aware of the RTI Act. During the awareness survey, it was also observed that the major sources of this awareness were: Mass media channels like television channels, newspapers etc Word of mouthIt was further observed that awareness level is low among the disadvantaged communities such as: Women: In all the five states the awareness level among women was found to be low in comparison to men. The difference in awareness level between women and men ranged from 9% to 20%. The average awareness level among women was 12% in comparison to 26% awareness level among men. Rural population: As observed in the previous case the awareness level in rural population was low compared to urban population. The difference in awareness level among rural population and urban population varied from 33% in Maharashtra to 5% in Andhra Pradesh. OBC/SC/ST category: The awareness level among OBC/SC/ST category citizens was low when compared to awareness level among general category citizens.Poor quality of information provided [footnoteRef:7] [7: Sathe,S . Right to Information,1ed,2006.]

During the information seeker survey, it was also highlighted than more than 75% of the citizens are dissatisfied with the quality of information being provided. The corresponding figure for OBC/SC/ST category of citizens stood much higher with 86% dissatisfied citizens. The percentage of people who said that incomplete information was provided to them was alarmingly high in Andhra Pradesh 91% and Uttar Pradesh - 96%.The quality of response provided can be a direct consequence of: The record management practices within the Public Authority The transparency in its processes The training provided to the concerned PIO Drafting of the RTI application itselfUnless these problems are addressed comprehensively by the appropriate Government and Public Authority in tandem, it would continue to be an issue. The role of the Information Commission assumes importance in maintaining a process to continuously identify the Public Authorities that do not possess adequate processes and infrastructure for compliance to the RTI Act and making them comply with the provisions of this Act as per Section 19(8) (a).

Failure to provide information within 30 days Currently there exist inadequate measures and processes for an Information Commission to view the adherence levels of this important provision of the Act. The Information Commission gets to know the failure of the Public Authority in providing the information within 30 days (or 48 hours or 35 days or 40 days as may be the case) once the appeal or complaint is filed. During the study, more than 50% of the information seekers mentioned that it took more than 30 days to receive the information from the PIO. The experience of citizens from disadvantaged communities was similar to the overall experience levels. As per the Act, the information has to be provided within the stipulated time. However as per our survey it was highlighted by the PIOs that they are challenged to provide the information within the stipulated time due to inadequate record management procedures with the Public Authorities. It is a known fact that the record keeping process within the Government is a big challenge. This situation is further aggravated due to non-availability of trained PIOs and the enabling infrastructure (computers, scanners, internet connectivity, photocopiers etc.). Public Authorities need to meet the requirements of the RTI Act to review their current record keeping procedures and other constraints and plan out the resources. Lack of motivation among PIOs: In addition to lack of resources, PIOs lack the motivation to implement RTI Act. During the RTI workshops organised in the surveyed states, PIOs cited that there were no incentives for taking on the responsibility of a PIO; however penalties were imposed in cases of non compliance. It was also observed that there is a wide variance in the seniority levels of PIOs. For example PIOs have been appointed at the level of school teachers in the School Education Department in Andhra Pradesh. During the information provider survey, 89% of the PIOs said that there had been no additional allocation of staff for RTI related activities. Appointing PIOs at a field level facilitates accessibility to the PIO. However this may also be counterproductive, as it may lead to dilution of accountability of senior officials.

3.5 R.T.I- Functioning Procedure or Process[footnoteRef:8] [8: Right to information ACT 2005]

Under the Act, all authorities covered must appoint theirPublic Information Officer(PIO). Any person may submit a request to the PIO for information in writing. It is the PIO's obligation to provide information to citizens of India who request information under the Act. If the request pertains to another public authority (in whole or part), it is the PIO's responsibility to transfer/forward the concerned portions of the request to a PIO of the other within 5 working days. In addition, every public authority is required to designateAssistant Public Information Officers(APIOs) to receive RTI requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of their public authority. The applicant is not required to disclose any information or reasons other than his name and contact particulars to seek the information. "Rtination" is an online system which facilitates the filing of RTI (Right to Information Act, India) applications online. It aims primarily at minimizing the time taken and effort required in filing an application. The Act specifies time limits for replying to the request. If the request has been made to the PIO, the reply is to be given within days30of receipt. If the request has been made to an APIO, the reply is to be given within35 days of receipt. If the PIO transfers the request to another public authority (better concerned with the information requested), the time allowed to reply is30 daysbut computed from the day after it is received by the PIO of the transferee authority. Information concerning corruption and Human Rights violations by scheduled Security agencies (those listed in the Second Schedule to the Act) is to be provided within45 daysbut with the prior approval of the Central Information Commission. However, if life or liberty of any person is involved, the PIO is expected to reply within48 hours.

SCOPE[footnoteRef:9] [9: Right to information ACT 2005]

The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, whereJ&K Right to Information Actis in force. It is applicable to all constitutional authorities, including the executive, legislature and judiciary; any institution or body established or constituted by an act of Parliament or a state legislature. It is also defined in the Act that bodies or authorities established or constituted by order or notification of appropriate government including bodies "owned, controlled or substantially financed" by government, or non-Government organizations "substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds" provided by the government are also covered in it.

4. Conclusion: After doing so much research on RTI ACT 2005 I concluded that the Constitution of India has established democratic Republic; and whereas democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed;And whereas revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with other public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information; And whereas it is necessary to harmonies these conflicting interests while preserving the paramount of the democratic ideal; Now, therefore, it is expedient to provide for furnishing certain information to citizens who desire to have it. The recommendation for effective implantation is as follows: Awareness:A massive awareness campaign is necessary to educate the citizens about the RTI Act and encourage citizen involvement. The awareness program must especially target the vulnerable categories of citizens such as: (i) women; (ii) farmers and rural families; and (iii) middle and working class, for whom most of the social benefit schemes of the Government are targeted. For this purpose, RTI awareness and education needs to be aggressively pursued using the appropriate medium of communication. Also adequate budget needs to be allocated by the appropriate Governments for this initiative. Improving convenience in filing requests Alternative Channels for submission of RTI requests as a conducive and facilitative environment at Government offices is a necessary condition to ensure that the citizens are able to apply and receive information in a convenient manner.In order to facilitate citizens in filing RTI requests/appeals the following alternate channels should be designated as Assistant public information officers (provided for under section 5(2)): - Citizen Service Centres (CSCs) facilitating citizens in filing RTI applications - Department of Posts to assist in drafting and forwarding the application/appeals - RTI call centres - RTI portal - RTI resource centre in each district headquarterConvenient options for collection of Fees Payment Channels As pointed out earlier, there is a need for standardization of RTI fee payment channels and making it convenient for a citizen to file request from remote locations (even outside the State), which is not possible if the fee has to be paid in cash. It is recommended that the respective State Governments should issue instructions or amend rules (as the case may be) to the Public Authorities to include convenient payment channels for submission of RTI applications by the citizens. The collection mode should be convenient to the citizen filing for such information from a remote location. The options are - Indian Postal Order - Demand Draft (convenient mode for requesting information remotely/outside the State) - Department of Posts should introduce RTI Envelopes which would have an inbuilt cost of application fee (convenient mode for requesting information remotely). - Electronic Payment Gateway, which would be required for the payment to be made from the RTI portals.

5. Bibliography: Primary Source: Using the Right to Information as an Anti-Corruption Tool-Transparency international Right To Information, Act 2005-Bare Act Right to Information- S.P Sathe Secondary source:Pratiyogita Darpan Web source:Wikipedia.orgLegalserviceindia.comRti.gov.in www.rtiindia.org/forum www.article19.org