People empowerment is the essence of a true democracy. Towards this end the UPA government passed the RTI act in 2005, truly allowing the ordinary people access to information not available normally.
The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government, contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense. It goes without saying that an informed citizen is better equipped to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of governance and make the government more accountable to the governed. The Act is a big step towards making the citizens informed about the activities of the Government. Aruna Roy leading the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan was instruemmental is pushing through this legislation.
The act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir.
The Right to information in India is governed by two major bodies:
- Central Information Commission (CIC) – Chief Information commissioner who heads all the central departments and ministries- with their own public Information officers (PIO) s. CICs are directly under the President of India.
- State Information Commissions – State Public Information Officers or SPIOs head over all the state department and ministries. The SPIO office is directly under the corresponding State Governor.
State and Central Information Commissions are independent bodies and Central Information Commission has no jurisdiction over the State Information Commission.
There is a designated portal for RTI wherein, the citizen can ask for any information and make payment and he should get his information within 30 days. If refused, he has the recourse to file an appeal.
RTI is a great tool for the average citizen, they no longer need to pay bribes in offices, to get information that they need to get on with their affairs. RTI has been successfully used in India by many people to get issues resolved. Whether your pension is being held back or the ration card application has received no response, RTI could be the key to get results in a fast and timely manner.
The Right to information (RTI Act 2005) was touted as one law which would bring in transparency and eradicate corruption by civil society direct involvement. Failure to implement it in a thoroughly and efficiently has led to rough loss estimate of $245 million yearly as per one estimate. The first RTI application was filed at a police station in Pune by Shahid Raza Burney.
There are a number of scams unearthed since then, prominent among the being
Adarsh Society Scam – 2G Scam – Commonwealth Games Scam
Demonetization announced without RBI nod – 23,000 loan fraud cases in past 5 years
Indian Red Cross Society Scam – A billionaire’s dream university in Odisha(Vedanta)
RTI reveals large-scale corruption in Maharashtra’s financial assistance scheme
The RTII act has been a roaring success in exposing corruption in every sphere of government activity. This has created unease in government circles and there are attempts being made in various ways to make the ineffective. There is massive delay in the information to be given in sensitive cases, stalling through various legal means and in cases outright refusal.
In fact, certain people have even eliminated the RTI activists who have consistently probed certain corruption cases. The Whistleblower bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and now pending in the Rajya Sabha, to protect those activists who exposed corruption but, the government facing pressure from various groups, have diluted this bill to such an extent that troublesome RTI activist are eliminated with impunity. The delay in passing this act and bringing it under the ambit of law is slowing the exposing of many wrongful acts.
The present government has very cleverly decided to curtail the powers -*not by modifying the act but, by modifying the powers of the CIC, thereby effecting controlling him. To understand the changes being proposed, it is necessary to see the powers of the CIC and how he is named.*
How is Central Information Commission constituted?
- Under the provision of Section-12 of RTI Act 2005 the Central Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a body to be known as the Central Information Commission.
- The Central Information Commission shall consist of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and such number of Central Information Commissioners not exceeding 10 as may be deemed necessary.
What is the eligibility criteria and what is the process of appointment of CIC/IC?
- Section
12(3) of the RTI Act 2005 provides as follows.
(i) The Prime Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee;
(ii) The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha ; and
(iii). A Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister. - Section 12(5) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance.
- Section 12(6) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that Chief Information Commissioner or an Information Commissioner shall not be a Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislature of any State or Union Territory as the case may be , or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession.
What is the term of office and other service conditions of CIC?
- Section 13 of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office and shall not be eligible for reappointment:
- Section 13(5)(a) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the salaries and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Information Commissioner shall be the same as that of the Chief Election Commissioner.
What is the term of office and other service conditions of IC?
- Section 13(2) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office and shall not be eligible for reappointment as such Information Commissioners provided.
- Provided that every Information Commissioner shall on vacating his office under this sub-section be eligible for appointment as the Chief Information Commissioner in the manner specified in sub-section (3) of section 12 of the RTI Act 2005:
- Provided further that where the Information Commissioner is appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner, his term of office shall not be more than five years in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the Chief Information Commissioner.
- Section 13(5)(b) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the salaries and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of an Information Commissioner shall be the same as that of an Election Commissioner.
Now, the BP has proposed modifications to the RTI act and the table below gives the comparable differences.
Comparison of the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005 and the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019
| Provision | RTI Act, 2005 | RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2019 |
| Term | The Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information Commissioners (ICs) (at the central and state level) will hold office for a term of five years. | The Bill removes this provision and states that the central government will notify the term of office for the CIC and the ICs. |
| Quantum of Salary | The salary of the CIC and ICs (at the central level) will be equivalent to the salary paid to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, respectively. Similarly, the salary of the CIC and ICs (at the state level) will be equivalent to the salary paid to the Election Commissioners and the Chief Secretary to the state government, respectively. | The Bill removes these provisions and states that the salaries, allowances, and other terms and conditions of service of the central and state CIC and ICs will be determined by the central government. |
| Deductions in Salary | The Act states that at the time of the appointment of the CIC and ICs (at the central and state level), if they are receiving pension or any other retirement benefits for previous government service, their salaries will be reduced by an amount equal to the pension. Previous government service includes service under: (i) the central government, (ii) state government, (iii) corporation established under a central or state law, and (iv) company owned or controlled by the central or state government. | The Bill removes these provisions. |
The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha as the BP enjoys a brute majority and clever manipulations with certain absenteeism in the Rajya Sabha saw that, the bill was passed there also. It is not enough that the BP shout from the rooftops on every occasion to curtail corruption but many of their steps like –
Amendment of the RTI act
The delay in enactment of the Lok Pal bill
Favouring of certain groups for major projects
Tax terrorism
Dilution and control of statutory bodies like the CBI,CAG and many others.
give a lie to their rhetorical statement on removal of corruption. In fact some of the laws are passed so quickly that the opposition is not given time to marshal their resources. The present government has built up a massive following who vote for them regardless of any wrongdoing on theit part and the disturbing trend is that, they are not bothered to listen also.
Hope saner sense pervades