from Dr Eugene D'Souza
for Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai (GA)

Mumbai, Jun 10: Addressing a well-attended workshop of the representatives of the political and civic cells of different parishes of the Thane deanery organized by the Bharatiya Lok-Adhar Manch (BLAM) of Our Lady of Fatima Parish at Ambernath (West) on Sunday June 8, Shailesh Gandhi said “As the sovereign citizens of the country, we have the right to information, which is the common man’s Brahmastra”.

Shailesh Gandhi, who gave up his business a few years ago to take up the crusade for the Right to Information (RTI) has been one of the well-known and foremost social activists using the RTI to make the government accountable to the people.

In his informative and impressive speech sprinkled with humour, Shailesh Gandhi traced the background of the Right to Information Act.  He pointed out that the Right to Information is derived from fundamental right of expression under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. "If we do not have information on how our government and public institutions function, we cannot express any informed opinion on it. This has been clearly stated by various Supreme Court judgments from 1977. In a democracy, as the Government is run on behalf of the people, they are the rightful owners who have a right to be informed directly.

To strengthen the cause of the Right to Information, Shailesh Gandhi cited Justice Mathew’s ruling in the Raj Narain case, “In a government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of the country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way by their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its being. Their right to know, which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute, is a factor which should make one wary when secrecy is claimed for transactions  which can at any rate have no repercussion on public security.”

Tracing the history of the Right To Information Act, Shailesh Gandhi said that the movement originated in a small village in Rajasthan, when the villagers wanted to know how much money was sanctioned for a project and how much was spent on it. The success of the movement undertaken by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghathan in rural Rajasthan brought RTI on the agenda of the nation. So far nine states across India have enacted the Right To Information Acts, the first being Tamil Nadu. The Maharashtra Right To Information (MRTI) Act was passed in 2002 and notified on August 11, 2003. The Indian Parliament passed the Right To Information Act on May 12, 2005, which became operational from October 12, 2005.

Citing a number of  relevant examples,  Shailesh Gandhi stressed the importance of the RTI and how it can bring a change, though not substantial,  in the working of the government and public departments. Alert and conscientious citizens, instead of complaining about corruption and non-functioning of the government and public agencies, can seek the information and try to bring about the transparency and accountability in their functioning.

To emphasize the importance of the RTI Act and its power, Shailesh Gandhi narrated an incident of a slum dweller who had learnt the use of the Right To Information. When he applied for a new ration card, he was told that he would have to give a bribe of Rs 2000 to the officials to get the card. However, this RTI-empowered citizen went ahead and applied for the ration card without offering any bribes or making any noise about the issue. A few weeks later, he found out that all the bribe-givers had got their ration cards in about four weeks. He waited for eight weeks, and then applied for information under RTI. Using the simple format with an application fee of Rs.10/, he submitted it to the Public Information Officer of the Food and Supply Office. In his application he had asked up to which date applications for ration cards had been cleared, and the progress report of his application. This shook up the corrupt officials, since the answer would reveal that they had given ration cards to others who had applied after him, which would be conclusive evidence that they had no justification for delaying his card. The result of his simple RTI application was that the ration card was given to him immediately. In a similar way thousands of citizens have got their pensions, passports, Income Tax and Sales Tax refunds, electricity connections, birth certificates, etc.

The Right To Information Act is applicable to all public authorities. A public authority means any government office, department or institutions such as universities, colleges and schools or non-government organizations substantially financed by the government.

‘Information’ means any material in any form including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, etc. ‘Right to Information’ means the right to access the information held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to: inspection of work, documents, records, taking notes, extracts, or certified copies of documents or records; taking certified samples of material; obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device.

However, there are ten exemptions of information and request for such information can be rejected. These exemption include any information that would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific and economic interests of the state, relation with a foreign State; information which has been forbidden to be published by any court of law; information, the disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature, etc.

Every public authority has appointed one or more special officers called Public Information Officers (PIO) to deal with requests for information. Assistant PIOs (APIO) are also appointed by such authorities at Sub-division or taluk-level.

Citizens seeking information have to submit written applications to the PIOs or APIOs in plain paper in the prescribed format along with a fee of Rs.10to be paid in cash, demand draft or cheque payable to the Public Authority, or by affixing a court fee stamp of Rs.10.

Once the PIO or APIO accepts the application for the information that a citizen has sought, he may ask for payment of fees for the copies of the documents. Rs 2 per page (A4 size) or Rs 50 for information given on floppy or CD. There is no charge for the inspection of files or records for the first hour and then Rs 5 for every fifteen minutes. Postage charges would be added to this.

Under the Right To Information Act, the PIO will either supply the information or reject the request on certain specified grounds within a period of 30 days. If information is not provided or wrongly refused, the citizen can go in appeal to an Appellate Authority who would be an official in the same department, senior to the IPO. The Appellate Authority has to give a decision in 30 days.

The RTI Act has stipulated a penalty of Rs 250 per day subject to maximum of Rs 25,000 imposed on the IPO if he has, without any reasonable cause has refused to receive the application or not furnished information within the prescribed period or knowingly given incomplete, incorrect or misleading information or obstructed in any manner in furnishing the information. Besides, disciplinary action, according to the relevant service rules, can also be recommended by the Information Commission against the concerned officer, if he repeats the above stated acts.

Thus, the RTI Act provides for a time-bound and defined process for citizens to access information about all actions taken by public authorities. The penal provisions on the PIO are the real teeth of the Act, which ensures that the PIO cannot treat citizens’ demands for information in a cavalier manner.

These are a few types of cases where conscientious citizens can use the RTI Act: when the citizen needs information on some activity of the government, or reasons for certain decisions; when the citizen knows or suspects corruption or wrong-doing in some department or activity; when bribes are sought to provide ration card or water connection or an authority refuses to act on a complaint or FIR.  The mere asking of information sometimes reduces illegal acts, since the wrong-doer feels restrained or threatened by exposure. A citizen could suggest improvements in the functioning of a Government department only if he has the information.

Besides a large number of representatives of the Political and Civic Cells from different parishes of the Thane Deanery, the work-shop was attended by Fr Barthol Machado, the dean of Thane deanery, Willy Sirsat,  coordinator of Church in city in Mumbai Archdiocese, Fr Sylvester, parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima Church, Ambernath (West), Fr Adrian and Celine Patil, the coordinator of the political and civic cells in Thane deanery.

For related information on the subject of Right To Information, log on to:
http://www.persmin.nic.in
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in
http://www.mcgm.gov.in
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org

If anyone wants any help in using RTI they can contact  Shailesh Gandhi on the e-mail: shaileshgan@gmail.com