Kashmir
Times: Srinagar: Friday, 29 August 2014.
Dear Editor,
The RTI Act ,
which was once hailed as the ultimate weapon in the hands of the citizens to
fight for probity in public life, has now lost its sheen. The bureaucracy has
effectively nullified this Act by its calculated tactics. The Information
Commissioners who are supposed to ensure the implementation of the RTI Act in
letter and spirit are really the employed tools to sabotage the RTI Act. They
are the carefully chosen ex bureaucrats or those with political and official
patronage, who are put on the job to defeat the letter and spirit of the RTI
Act and frustrate the RTI Activists.
Now, the
ground reality is that most of the letters seeking information under RTI Act
are not acknowledged at all or a reply is sent at the end of 30 days stating
that the letters should be addressed to some other section. The endless cycle
goes on.
On many
occasions, the complaints sent to the Information Commissioners are also not
acknowledged or routinely forwarded to the so called Appellate authority in the
government department, who seldom respond. The net effect is that the thousands
of letters seeking information under RTI Act now remain unanswered and are
gathering dust.
Some RTI
activists who persist with the same letters for several months get tired and
have no alternative other than withdrawing from their efforts.
Under such
circumstances, when nothing works , people tend to think that only street
demonstrations and violence will work in this country to get any response from
the government departments. Anna Hazare and AAP exploited such people's
frustration for some time and they themselves have been exposed now, as they
have proved themselves to be no different from the average politician of India.
In such
circumstances, there is no alternative other than the committed individuals
resisting corruption and demand for bribery at individual level.
Those who
long for probity in public life should not lose heart and they should resist
the demand for corruption from whatever quarters in day today life and make
themselves role models for others to emulate. A few individuals fighting for
the cause in every small town, village and city would certainly keep the ray of
hope alive
—N.S.Venkataraman
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