Empowerment of the People through RTI 2005

The Right To Information Act, 2005

Empowerment of the People

The Indian constitution has recognized 7 fundamental rights for the countrymen of India. However, seeing the state of the country in the midst of corruption and impunity in government functioning, it had become very important for the people to have a new right; the right to information of the workings of the government which one could feel saddened to say is full of loopholes and corrupt practices. The Right To Information Act, 2005, which states,” An Act to provide for right 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 herewith or incidental thereto.” These days you would repeatedly read about corruption charges against people or even scams being exposed, many of which are exposed due to the RTI Act. Before 2005, no one knew about the extent of corruption existing in the country, because there was no way for the ‘general’ public to find about these things, all  this corrupt works were happening very freely inside the government with no one to question their actions, but, this act has given the common citizen the key to open the gateway to the inside of the government system, making the system transparent to us, making us pay attention to the corruption in the system, helping us to have an enabled legislation, by giving us the power to improve the system.

Every day new scams are brought to the light, because there are people like the RTI activists who are concerned with the country’s workings and well-being, who want to know that their tax money is being used properly and for good reasons. The revealing of scams started because of the transparency brought about by the RTI act. Some of the biggest scams like 2G scam and Adarsh Society scam were revealed because of this act.

Understanding it on the social base, the societies have to understand how it helps them. The problem these days is that people do not understand why they would need this act. People have to understand how it has been adopted, for a cause to help them. Understanding how important the act is, since it allows the public the right to obtain information from any public organisation, to see that their work not have any irregularities and to see that the taxes they pay, the income of the government, is used properly and efficiently. We have to see that these things are watched over because in the end it is our money that is being used for these government projects and proper legislations are needed to watch over this.

This is giving us a simple right, a right to get information. A person asks for the information regarding any government project, anything relating to it, its accounts or any other information, the government or the public servant is duty bound to give the particular information to that person. There are some exceptions, which are needed for secret affairs, ensuring that information which has impact on national security is not divulged but overall we all should be informed about the government affairs and projects.

RTI is an initiative that was taken by the Department of Personnel and Training and the Ministry of Personnel. RTI asks for accountability, in the system, in the working of the government and for the people to ask for accountability, because if you don’t ask for accountability, you are not being eager to know if your government is working in a proper way. The eagerness that is being talked about is very important, if you are not being eager, you are not interested in the way things are happening in your country, you are not going to know about corruption , projects, whether it be in politics, or in any other system. The main problem these days, in India, as the daily news prove, is corruption.  Scams everywhere, government officials getting “richer” every day, what we needed was “transparency”, transparency in government projects. These government agencies will be made more efficient for the public with proper utilisation of resources and above all, as the RTI Activists say,” End to the bureaucratic exploitation of common citizens of India.”

RTI orders timely responses to citizen’s requests for government information.

The main vision of this act is to become the pillar of democracy by sharing the required information to the common citizen of India. This shared information is going to bring the equality in our country, stop corruption, and get our government working in a ‘cleaner’ way. One of aims in the end is to enlighten the people on their right to information, to be informed about the things that will impact our lives and our nation and then to improve the state of our country regarding the corruption problem. It enables the people to ask for information they need.

 RTI activists are trying to make the people understand why the RTI is important for the people of India, which the majority does not understand or they simply ignore. This ignorance is what I feel is one of the reasons our country is in such a state. This Act is important and we should understand that, but it is the action we take that can make the difference.

RTI is for us, us the people, and no one else. The more we use it as an enabling act to improve governance efficiency and accountability, the more this nation will move on the path of growth and taking care of its poor and the downtrodden, the steps to a glorious stage of India. The government has given us this power, use this power, or else nothing will change. India will not improve its conditions; poverty will always be there, corruption. Don’t just sit at your homes and just discuss the problem with your family, work on it, fight for your right, Do something about it, take action. Be eager, be a better country. Activists can’t work alone, they need your help, they need our help, and lets help them.