04 Jan RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005
UPSC MAINS SYLLABUS GS2 PAPER: Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies
WHY IN THE NEWS?
In light of criticism faced after revealing the cost of selfie points installed at railway stations in reply to an RTI application, the Indian Railways has tightened norms for Zonal Railways in furnishing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005
RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005:
- It sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens “Right to Information” held as an integral part to realize Fundamental rights under Article 19 (Freedom of Speech & Expression) & Article 21 (Right to dignified life).
- Under the provisions of the act, any citizen of India (and not any foreigner residing in India) can request information from a “Public authority”.
- “Public authority” under the RTI Act 2005 includes:
- Constitutional authorities (executive, legislative & judiciary)
- Statutory body created under the Act of Parliament or State legislature
- Any such body created by the order of the government including bodies “owned, controlled or substantially financed” by the government
- Any Non-Government organizations (NGOs) or “private institutions” which receives over 95% of their infrastructure funds from the government
- Any privatized public utility companies (as held by Supreme court in Sarbjit Roy case)
- Any such information seeked by citizen in “public interest” shall be provided expeditiously or within 30 days time limit
- Additionally, if the information is sensitive and involves matter related to a petitioner’s life and liberty, then it shall be provided within 48 hours
SHORTCOMINGS OF THE RTI ACT 2005:
- Restricted Information disclosure: Wide public information dissemination is barred by laws such as Official Secrets Act 1923, Civil Service Conduct Rules 1964, Indian Evidence Act 1872 etc.
- Section 8 of the Act itself provides exemptions from the disclosure of Information such as those affecting National security, trade secrets etc
- Various Security agencies which deals daily with citizens are also exempted from the purview of “RTI” under 2nd Schedule of the Act such as: RAW, Aviation research centre, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, CISF etc
- It violates Individual’s Right to Privacy as upheld under KS Puttaswamy Judgement 2017. For example, Supreme Court’s recent judgment held the court as “public authority” under the Act but distanced the information related to conduct of Judges on the ground of the Right to Privacy.
- At the same time, the large corpus of Private bodies such as Corporates fall outside the purview of the act
- Exclusion of Political parties: CIC in 2013 held that National parties such as Congress, BJP & CPI are “public authorities” as they are “substantially” funded indirectly by the Central Government or State Governments:
- However the Right To Information (Amendment) Bill 2013 removed political parties from the scope of the law.
- Curbing voice of activists: As per the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) data, RTI activists faces repeated threat of repeated attacks and are physically and mentally harassed.
- Red tapism: Many RTIs are rejected due to excessive bureaucratic requirements to avail the information:
- For example, more than 60% of RTI appeals made to CIC in Delhi are rejected on the basis of “not written in English”, lack of index or listing of inaccurate dates.
- This whole cumbersome process disenfranchise the “common people” of the country to seek information related to the quality of governance
- The State Information Commissions (SIC)s are facing huge backlogs of the cases due to the shortage of available staff and rising vacancies.
STEPS TO TAKE TO REFORM RTI ACT 2005:
As recommended by the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC) report:
- Organizations performing the nature of “public duty” as performed by Government agencies shall be brought within the purview of the act.
- Provisions of restricting acts such as Official Secrets Act 1923 & Evidence Act 1972 shall be amended to provide “maximum & reasonable” transparency.
- As per the recommendations of the Shourie Committee, Section 5 (1) shall be amended to make provisions of OSA 1923 applicable only to those information that compromise national security.
- All organizations listed in the Second Schedule (exemptions) shall appoint a Public Information Officer (PIO) and Suo-motu disseminate information in interest of the public.
- Section 12 of the Act shall be amended to expand the Selection committee for Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) to include Chief Justice of India (CJI).
- Similarly, a Selection Committee at the State level with the Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of the High Court shall be appointed.
- To fill the huge vacancies that mired the working of the Commissions, the Government shall constitute State Information Commissions (SIC) in all states within 3 months.
- Further, Regional offices for CIC in states & SICs in districts shall be created for wider disclosure of the information. Creation of Public Records Offices can also be taken in this direction.
- At Least 50% of the members of the Information Commissions shall be drawn from “Non- Civil services” background for diversification in the approach of working of commission.
- Also for wider reach to the public, the disclosed information shall be made available in all scheduled languages (22) and revised periodically to keep it up to date.
- Further, Liberalizing the payment methods to seek information to ensure uniform payments across the country shall be taken.
PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE: CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION (CIC):
- It is a statutory body created under the Right to Information Act in 2005.
- It acts upon the complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer (PIOs).
- It consists of One Chief Information Commissioner (CIO) & 10 other Information commissioners (ICs).
- CIO & ICs are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee which consists of: Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
- Right to Information Act 2019 has further increased bureaucratic control by giving power to the Central government to set the salaries and service conditions of Information Commissioners at central as well as state levels.
WAY FORWARD:
Transparency is a fundamental pillar of the democratic form of Government as in the words of John Maxwell; “Transparency breeds legitimacy”. Right to Information Act 2005 is a monumental step to instil transparency in the government functioning. It aims to inculcate a culture of openness, accountability & participatory governance. Thus effective implementation of the RTI Act 2005 is sin quo non for sustaining healthy democracy, for which above mentioned reforms are pertinent.
Download plutus ias current affairs eng med 04th Jan 2024
UPSC PRELIMS 2024 PRACTISE QUESTION:
Q: Consider the following agencies:
- Aviation Research Centre
- Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
- Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
- Central Industrial Security Force
How many of the above mentioned agencies are exempted from the purview of Right to Information Act 2005 as listed in the 2nd schedule of the Act:
a. Only one
b. Only two
c. Only three
d. All four
ANSWER: d.
UPSC MAINS 2024 PRACTISE QUESTION:
Q: “Recent amendments to the Right to Information Act will have profound impact on the autonomy and independence of the Information Commission”. Discuss. (2020 Question)
I have appeared in Mains 2022 & 23 of UPSC CSE exam. I also guide students regarding their NEET & JEE preparations.
Working as Content developer at Plutus IAS since 2023.
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