Right to Information Act,2005 An overview Nayana Renukumar Centre for Good Governance 1

Flow of presentation  Need for access to information  RTI- Key concepts  Evolution of RTI in India  Right To Information Act, Provisions  RTI and social accountability  Good practices  Positive impacts  Key issues  Recap 2

Need for access to information  Freedom of information, fundamental human right - UN General Assembly 1946  Informed citizenry instrumental for good govt.  Promotes transparency and accountability  Enables participation  Protect civil liberties  Antidote to corruption “Sunlight is the best disinfectant” - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis 3

RTI- Key concepts  Transparency & accountability in government functioning  Right of citizen to seek information  Duty of govt. to meet requests and pro-actively make information available  Responsibility on all sections : Public authorities, CSOs, citizens, media 4

Evolution of RTI Act in India  Product of grassroots social movement by an NGO  National People’s Campaign for RTI, 1996  Freedom of Information Act, 2002  Passage of State level RTI Acts  Central government commitment to RTI  Central Act passed in June 2005 India is the 48th country to pass RTI 5

Right to Information Act, 2005  Came into being on 12 th October, 2005  Applicable to:  Whole of India except Jammu & Kashmir  Center, State and local governments  Bodies owned/controlled/substantially funded by govt.  Executive, judiciary and legislature 6

‘Right to Information’ Information – Records, documents, memos, s, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data or material held in any electronic form Includes the right to-  Inspect public work, documents, records  Take notes or certified copies of records  Take certified samples of material  Obtain information in electronic or print form 7

Institutional set up for RTI Central Information Commission Chief Information Commissioner Information Commissioners (7) State Information Commission State Chief Information Commissioner State Information Commissioners Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) Central Assistant Public Information Officers (CAPIOs) State Public Information Officers (PIOs) State Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) 8

Pro-active disclosure  RTI mandates proactive disclosure  Make information readily available Obligations of Public Authority  Maintenance of Records  Publishing relevant information  Publishing facts related to decision-making  Providing reasons for decisions to affected persons 9

Exemptions Information  Related to Intelligence and security agencies  Affecting sovereignty, security, special interests of country  Affecting competitive position of third party: Trade secrets, IP, Comm. Confidence, copyright  Forbidden by court /breaching privileges of legislature Exemptions will be overridden if public interest in disclosure outweighs the need to protect special interests 10

Appeals Dissatisfaction with information from PIO  First appeal Officer higher in status over PIO Dissatisfaction with higher official’s action Second appeal State/ central information commission  IC directs PIO to provide information or penalize if found faulty 11 Penalty Unreasonable delay – Rs 250/day - Rs 25,000 Malpractice - up to Rs. 25,000 Dept. action No criminal liability

Access to Information in India  Cheap: Fee for information: Rs.10, nil for BPL  Simple: Application on a white paper  Quick : Response within 30 days in normal case, within 48 hours for life & liberty considerations  No need to give reason for seeking information  Nodal officer in every department to provide information  Appellate mechanism to monitor RTI 12

RTI and social accountability  The RTI Act can be coupled with Social Audit to ensure the following:  Access to public records for audit  Provide for the community to verify recorded information  Facilitate a regime of transparency and accountability  Social audit process 13 Obtaining records to be audited through RTI application Audit of records and documents Identifying gaps and lapses Public hearing based on audit Corrective actions

Application of RTI  RTI to enhance PHC service delivery  Information related to functioning of the PHC:  Attendance of staff  Field visits of PHC staff  Stock registers  Inventory of medicines  No. of Outpatients treated  No. of Surgeries  Samples of medicines 14

RTI Good practices  RTI call centre: File RTI application through phone call  National RTI help line : Answer queries on RTI  RTI help desks in government offices: Assist citizens file application  National Convention on RTI  Capacity Building for Access to Information (CBAI)  UNDP, GoI, CGG, YASHADA  Capacity building initiatives: Supply & demand side  Mass awareness campaigns 15

RTI Good Practices  Use of ICT for RTI  Online access to documents, files, orders & status of applications - CIC Online access to documents, files, orders & status of applications - CIC  Online application and tracking– APSIC Online application and tracking– APSIC  National RTI portal - GoI National RTI portal - GoI  Resource portal on RTI – CGG Resource portal on RTI – CGG  Civil society initiatives  Public audits using RTI information  Information dissemination on RTI using media  Short documentaries & booklets on RTI 16

Positive impacts Use of RTI  To get basic entitlements and rights  To get individual grievances resolved  To monitor government works and services at community level Cases  Exposes fraud in muster rolls of Employment Scheme  Unearths corruption in public procurement  RTI enabled monitoring of public distribution system, quality of education, implementation of social security schemes.. 17

Key issues  Low awareness about act  Limited resources of Public Authorities  Poor records management  Poor proactive disclosure practices  Backlogs in Information Commissions 18

Summing up….  RTI is an important accountability instrument  India has strived to make RTI citizen friendly  Cheap, simple, quick  Minimum exemptions & proactive disclosures  Strong institutional mechanism  Proactive efforts from public authorities  Success stories from all over the country Too early to assess the impacts; long way to go 19