Economic Times: New
Delhi: Sunday, March 23, 2014.
Subhash
Chandra Agrawal is one of the most seasoned Right to Information (RTI)
activists in the country. Agrawal who has filed over 500 applications has
forced many institutions from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to the Prime
Minister's Office to provide information about their working.
It was after
hearing Agrawal's application in 2009 that the Central Information Commission
(CIC) decided that the Chief Justice of India's office did come under the
purview of the sunshine law. Agrawal has also filed applications that exposed
corruption in various departments, including the postal department and
railways.
But the RTI
veteran is concerned that the potential of the legislation has not been
realized in the past nine years. The 63-year-old activist says that there are
several provisions within the Act that have not been complied with by the
central and state governments. For instance, as per the RTI Act 2005, all
organizations that come under the purview of the law are supposed to put up all
kinds of paperwork pertaining to the working of these departments on their
website. Yet most departments do not put up their contracts or tender approval
processes followed in the public domain.
If the
bureaucracy that governed RTI had ensured that all ministries, public sector
undertakings and departments in the country that figure under the law were to
place all relevant records online, then it would become difficult for corrupt
government servants to, for instance, draft contracts that may be more than
generous towards a vendor. In short, if all such paperwork were to be available
freely, then there would be real transparency.
Opaque
System
Strangely,
despite being aware of the kind of change that this provision can bring to
governance, the government and the bureaucracy that was given charge of the Act
have done little to ensure compliance. Agrawal is not surprised at the disinterest
shown by the bureaucracy. "RTI is a problem for the bureaucracy. They are
not transparent and RTI also becomes a hurdle in their routine work," he
says.
The
Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has sent circulars asking the
concerned departments to adhere to the demands of the RTI Act. The departments
choose not to change their ways and the sham continues. The public authorities
know that there is no punishment for not complying with the circulars sent by
the DoPT. This is why the idea of transparent governance as envisioned in the
RTI Act did not happen.
"If they
were serious about compliance they should have formed a committee to ensure
that the said provision was implemented properly," says Agrawal.
India has
been ravaged by a series of scandals in recent years such as the Commonwealth
Games and 2G scams. In all these cases, the processes followed to award
contracts were later challenged and proven illegal. If all such contracts were
to be made available in the public domain in the first place, there is a chance
that government servants would be more wary of rigging selection processes for
instance Agrawal also says that in recent years the fight for transparency has
moved from the RTI arena to the political sphere with Arvind Kejriwal who started
off as an RTI activist taking to politics. The pressure from civil society on
the system has diminished which explains the lack of improvement in
implementation of the legislation.
Agrawal is
not the only one to complain about the lack of support from bureaucrats for the
RTI programme. Across India online RTI chatrooms are full of complaints against
the system. Broadly, activists allege that the state information commissions
deny information on flimsy grounds. They are then forced to approach the CIC or
the courts, which is a tedious process.
Threat to
the Corrupt
Activists say
that the state information commissions which, like the CIC, have a duty to
receiving complaints from any person, are functioning without any kind of
oversight. This means that the state commissions are under the considerable
influence of the state governments in many states. The state information
commissions of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for instance have been accused of
warding off applicants who seek information.
In Haryana,
the Hooda government was accused by RTI activists of posting family members on
the information commission panel while in Uttar Pradesh, the commission was
accused of passing unjust orders that did not adhere to the basic requirements
of the Act.
"As of
now the system at many places seems more geared to meet the needs of the
government rather than the applicants. There is a lot of ground that needs to
be covered at the national level. But it's the bureaucracy that's coming in the
way. They just do not want to improve the system," says activist Mayank
Gandhi, who has joined Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). According to him,
public disclosures are an absolute must if the RTI Act has to realize its
potential.
Former
cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian says that the significance of the RTI
movement cannot be overstated. "Today we have more information available
through RTI than what was available since Independence. But it will take 15 or
20 years before the system actually takes hold."
According to
Subramanian, the RTI regime is under threat from corrupt bureaucrats who work
almost like a mafiosi in the states. "Such groups are very strong in the
states and it is they who are obstructing [the RTI law]." RTI has already
caused a sense of dread among the corrupt, says Subramanian. Nowadays,
politicians and bureaucrats wanting to cut deals have to be more careful than
ever before.
"Politicians
are afraid that an honest bureaucrat may write something on the file that would
cause problems. So nowadays, they pack the entire line-up with people of their
choice." The effect of RTI on the system can also be gauged from a series
of murders of RTI activists that rocked the country in recent times. It is
estimated that at least 20 activists have been killed in various parts of the
country after they filed RTI applications that threatened the interests of
businessmen, politicians and other such.
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