By Fazal Mehmood
The UPA government’s decision to withdraw the proposed amendments to the Right to Information Act would provide relief to the public at large and social activists in particular who have begun to use the RTI on an increasing scale to get access to information to be able to judge the correctness or incorrectness of a decision made by governments at the Centre and in states.
It is quite interesting to note that the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by the prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, whose statement at the recent annual convention of the Central Information Commission had triggered fears of government planning to impose restrictions on the exercise of the right to information.
Dr. Singh had said at the convention, “There is a fine balance required to be maintained between the right to information and the right to privacy, which stems out of the fundamental right to life and liberty. The citizens’ right to know should definitely be circumscribed if disclosure of information encroaches upon someone’s personal privacy. But where to draw the line is a complicated question. There are concerns about frivolous and vexatious use of the Act in demanding information disclosure of which cannot possibly serve any public purpose.”
It is quite obvious that Dr. Manmohan Singh and his cabinet colleagues sensed that it was not the right moment to put restrictions on RTI. The UPA government is hit by a barrage of revelations, mostly sourced through RTI, that has called into question decisions of the government in general and the ministers, including the prime minister, in particular. Allegations of corruption are flying high. It is perception that matters in politics. The revelations are agitating the minds of the people.
Social activists such as Arvind Kejriwal who have used RTI masterly to damn politicians in power are currently enjoying a scale of popularity they have never enjoyed. To put restrictions on the use of RTI at this juncture could prove injurious to the image of Dr. Manmohan Singh and his team. The immediate transfer of the senior IAS officer, Ashok Khemka and contemplation of a case against him by the Congress government in Haryana is already being seen as reminiscent of the Emergency rule imposed by Indira Gandhi.
If the Manmohan Singh government passed amendments to RTI curbing the freedom of the people to access information about governance, it could trigger a public upsurge against the UPA government, leading to their loss of power in elections in 2014. So they decided to scrap the proposed amendments, with the hope that it would earn them public appreciation for their commitment to fundamental rights of the people!
We do not know whether they would be able to earn people’s goodwill merely by withdrawing the proposed amendments. They need to do much more to earn people’s goodwill. They need to go further than this. They need to make RTI much easier, more efficient and less expensive. The replies given by information officers designated for giving replies under RTI are often very vague and evasive. Government officers know how to play with words; they know how to hide when they want to. After trying once or twice, an ordinary man could be frustrated to give up trying accessing information through RTI.
The UPA government must introduce changes to make it mandatory and compulsory for information officers to give precise and detailed replies. Access to information through RTI and revelations in the media based on it have helped redressal of wrongs and public grievances in various areas, such as public distribution system, road repairs, electricity and telephone connections and bills.
In Assam, RTI information revealed irregularities in the distribution of food meant for people below the poverty line and led to arrest and prosecution of several government officials who were involved in siphoning off the money. Information through RTI exposed that in Punjab the money collected for Kargil war relief and rehabilitation of tsunami and cyclone victims was misused by senior government officials. It was through RTI again that it was revealed that bureaucrats heading local branches of the Indian Red Cross Society diverted the relief money to pay their hotel bills. The Adarsh Society scam was exposed through applications filed by RTI activists.
The need is to make RTI stronger, not weaker. It is not just big scams that get exposed through RTI; it is also the cases of injustice against common people that get exposed and redressed. We are a democracy. Restrictions on access to information about governance are imposed by authoritarian rulers who have too many skeletons in their cupboards. A government that is democratically elected and is committed to fair, unbiased and honest decision making should not be afraid of revelations, because revelations will only raise its prestige in the eyes of the people for having been working in an ethical manner and always in public interest. It is only a government that doesn’t work ethically that is scared of public access to information. INAV