Report on
A Workshop on Right to Information Act, 2005
Organised by State Resource Centre, Sanjauli
On 5 June 2005
At Bachat Bhawan (DC Office), Shimla
Introduction
A new chapter was added in the history of peoples’ movement in
India with the passage of ‘The Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005’ on June 15 this year. The passage of this act has been the part of struggle for access to information in different parts of
India. Unlike other legal enactments the necessity for this piece of legislation was inspired by the need to enlarge democratic spaces in the Indian polity. This Act has the potential to provide immense possibilities for developing accountability and transparency in decision making and the utilisation of public funds.
The passage of Right to Information Act in the Indian parliament was merely a prelude to the creation of an infrastructure of State Information Commissions in various states and the formulation of ‘fee and appeal rules’. Besides this the state governments had to undertake the responsibility to create an atmosphere through which provisions of the act reach out to the general public. Most significant aspect among these responsibilities was the appointment of Public Information Officers in various government departments and aided institutions.
A workshop was organised by State Resource Centre (SRC), Shimla in association with Initiatives for Democratic Rights (IFDR),
Chandigarh to open up a discussion on the provision of Right to Information Act, 2005 and its relevance for Indian democracy. The workshop began with the screening of a song ‘Janne Ka Haq’ sung by Vinay and Charul. Yogesh Snehi (IFDR,
Chandigarh) gave a talk on the provisions of the RTI and its relevance as a social document, followed by Vijay Kumar Sharma (Principal Secretary, Administrative Reforms, GoHP) who gave an account of the administrative initiative of the government of Himachal Pradesh on this issue. The talk was followed by the screening of two documentaries; a) ‘Right to Information: A Film on Corruption and Leakages in Rural Development Works and their Control’ based on Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Rajasthan and directed by Anurag Singh (b) ‘Right to Information’ based on Paivartan, Delhi and directed by Anurag Singh. It was followed by an intense discussion on issues pertaining to RTI and its limitations. The issues pertained to public cynicism that the Act may prove to be as useless as earlier laws and policies. It helped in formulating some key issues for immediate attention of the government and commission.
Key Issues
Although Right to Information Act, 2005 had to be implemented in all the Indian states on the 20th October 2005 (120th day of its enactment on 15th June 2005), many Indian states have not even appointed their respective State Chief Information Commissions and Commissioners. Himachal Pradesh could notify its fee and appeal rules as late as 21st January 2006. Many key issues emerged out of this workshop.
- One of the most significant steps in creating administrative structure to implement RTI in Himachal Pradesh was the appointment of Public Information Officers (PIOs) and Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) in various departments of government institutions. The names of these PIOs and APIOs were to be published with their designation, postal addresses and contact details, so that this could be made available to the general public. Although GoHP has put up such proactive details about PIOs and APIOs on its website, it is not ready with any user manual on these officers. These manuals can be of general use for the public at large which may be illiterate in computers and may not have access to internet.
- Second important step pertained to the notification of Himachal Pradesh Right to Information Rules, which could be notified on 21st January 2006. A discussion on these evoked many questions on certain provisions of the rules.
a) While the state government has kept pace with the central government as far as the application fee of Rs.10 with the application form (Form A), it has made the mode of payment of this fee difficult.
b) Until now the only mode of payment of fee is through a treasury challan. Although the government has apparently decided to include bank draft as another mode of payment, the notification for the same is still awaited. A discussion on the introduction of Postal Order, which can be one of the most convenient ways of payment of fee, is still inconclusive.
c) Besides the cost of obtaining information is ‘very high’. While the central government has fixed a rate of Rs.2 per page for information seeked, the GoHP has fixed Rs.10 per page for A-4 and Rs.20 per page for A-3 sized paper. Such exorbitant fee is nowhere within the provisions of the Act which underlines the ‘reasonable’ principle for determining the cost.
d) Similarly, though the cost of information on floopy (@ Rs.50 per floppy) and CD (@ Rs.100 per CD) is at par with the central rules, it is far from the reasonable clause.
e) The government has also restricted the physical inspection of records by charging Rs.10 per 15 minutes; the central government has, however, allowed free access to the records for the first one hour and a similar fee thereof.
- The formation and structure of the State Information Commission (SIC) also needs significant improvement. After the appointment of Shri P.S. Rana as the State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) of Himachal Pradesh, there has been little headway in broadening the structure of the Commission. Presently SIC is a ‘one-man commission’. The RTI Act specifies that the SIC can constitute of up to ten Information Commissioners (IC), besides one CIC. In order to make the working of the commission democratic, the governor can take the initiative and appoint people from diverse social groups (intellectuals, democratic rights activists, lawyers, etc).
- Besides this the act should be made available to the general public in Hindi, simplified and prepared in the form of user-guide/primers. The help of the resource institutions like SRC can make this exercise meaningful. The names of PIOs and APIOs should also be made available in a Hindi.
- The government departments are lagging behind in the preparation of user-guides/primers on suo moto disclosures on new and old projects and schemes of the government for the general public. The suo moto declarations are restricted to the declaration of the list of PIOs and APIOs in the official website (www.rti.gov.in) and that too in English. Besides this, there has not been a single advertisement or radio/television programme pertaining to Right to Information, despite the fact that the Act makes the government responsible on these issues. There are other issues like the training of the government staff on issues pertaining to RTI.
The government should make serious headways on the issues raised at the workshop. There is also an urgent need to disseminate the information about this important social document among the people so that the government could be pressurised to take initiatives on local issues.
Yogesh Snehi,
Swadesh Kunj,
St, no. 4, 8th Crossing,
New Suraj Nagri,
Dated: 18 June 2006 Abohar (
Punjab)
Yogesh Snehi <yogeshsnehi@yahoo.com>
