RTI Act has empowerd the common man: Habibullah

TNN, Sep 29, 2010NEW DELHI:

Describing the Right to Information Act as one of the most progressive legislations passed by Parliament since Independence, chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said it gave the common man powers to ask questions from the government without proving his "locus standi".

Habibullah will be demitting office on September 30. In a foreword to a book `The Change Maker' -- which has a collection of letters written by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal to various newspapers and different government authorities -- Habibullah said future generations will owe a deep debt of gratitude to crusaders like him.

Habibullah said this book made it clear that Agrawal's desire was to exercise his right to know. "Agrawal's motives are simple, moved only by a desire to demonstrate exercise of the right of every citizen to know, to suggest and to advise and bring to realisation the dream of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who upon the passage of Right to Information Bill in Parliament in June 2005 spoke of the dawn of an `era which will bring the common man's concern to the heart of all processes of governance'," he said.

Agrawal is best known for his RTI applications which have forced a regime of transparency not just amongst elected representatives but also the judiciary. His petitions brought about a change in discourse in accountability of judges and members of Parliament and legislative assembly.