Introduction, Objective and Its Impact
The RTI Act, of 2005 is a very important law, that empowers whole Indian citizens with the power or privilege to obtain information from Government Bodies, and such an act improves transparency between the Government and its People.
The Right to Information Act was enacted on 15 June 2005 by parliament, later on 12 October 2005, it was enforced.
You may need to know that the concept of the right to obtain information from government bodies through the RTI Act is not new in fact, the RTI Act repealed its weaker version which was freedom of information law.
The RTI Act’s objective is to make information under the control of public authorities, and accessible to the public so that every body of government or any public authorities workings get more open.
Why are using the power granted by the RTI act, Indian citizens can apply for information in writing or electronically to the Public Information Officer(PIO) a particular public authority or government body and, then public authorities will respond to you within 30 days and in certain important cases like of life or liberty, Justin 48 hours. Not providing information within a specified time, will result in a fine on a particular public authority or Government body.
Historical Background of the RTI Act and Key Activists Involved
The RTI act is a result of thousands of days of activism, in the early 90s, the moments mainly, Mazdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), in Rajasthan, badly exposed the ongoing corruption in rural wage and development schemes by asking for official records of such schemes.
Such “Public Hearings” and “People’s Audits” emerged as the need for the legal right to seek information from public bodies.
MKSS’s success, inspired activists like Nikhil Dey, Arun Roy, and other Local “JAN-SANGATHANS” to form the national campaign for people’s right to information (NCPRI) in the year 1996 to press for a national law on the right to information. Draft transparency laws like the Shourie Committee Model law of 1997 & Freedom Of Information Bill of 2000 were actually passed in 2002 but they never got enforced.
After year of 2004, the government changed the UPA alliance explicitly, promised a stronger right-to-information law for the country, and a National Advisory Council consisting of activists and politicians supervised its drafting. Important Parliament members like Shri Jaipal Reddy, P. Chidambaram and then Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh, noticed that the government was fully “committed to promoting transparency” through RTI.
By 2005, a board coalition consisting of Journalists, Citizens’ groups, Social activists like Anna Hazare, and Shailesh Gandhi, and some lawmakers had mobilized to demand a RTI act.
Benefits of RTI act in Governance, Transparency and Accountability.
Since the RTI Act’s enactment, it has notably improved accountability as well as transparency in the nation.
Government body keeps publishing several records by default like budgets, audit reports, and new project details, etc., and journalists as well as citizens use the RTI act to scrutinise official reports at ground levels.
The Right to Information Act has helped in exposing corruption and ensuring better service delivery: activists routinely demand, information related to public works, official fees, welfare payments, and many more from public authorities & government bodies. Even in very sensitive areas like Mining Permits and Environment Clearances, etc., RTI has been forcing information disclosures, this shows the impact of RTI: it reveals hidden information.
Challenges and Criticism
Despite being very successive, the RTI faces criticism. The bureaucratic resistance and poor compliance still stand as a problem in front of RTI, several authorities were very slow to adopt and implement the law and even simply ignored reporting requirements. There is also a very huge backlog because of the high volume of applications and shortage of staff. The enforcement of the act also depends upon the overworking of Public Information Officers (PIOs), and some PIOs are poorly trained or consider RTI request harassment. In some unfortunate cases, the applicants of RTI have been threatened or intimidated – shockingly, dozens of activists seeking information have been attacked or killed. According to a CHRI, study some 68 Indian RTI activists have been killed since 2005 and many have been threatened. This shows persistent challenges in demanding transparency.
Conclusion
The RTI beyond corruption also brings tangible social benefits, for example, Indian citizens have used RTI to correct government issue data(government schemes like MNREGA) and to expose failures in service delivery.
These attempts show RTI as a watchdog that reviews one-sided processes and secrets to the public. RTI isn’t just only for the public, it Prominently helps in shaping governance.
