Times
of India: Mumbai: Tuesday, 29 September 2015.
Transparency
in administration is a necessary prerequisite for realizing Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's dream of 'Digital Governance' in the country, former Central
Information Commissioner (CIC) Shailesh Gandhi on Monday said.
He termed
'Digital India' campaign, a pet project of the Modi government, as
"expensive" and "with no real benefits".
It was the
issue of transparency over which Modi ought to do something in a time-bound
manner first. Addressing this issue would "ultimately pave the way"
for his dream coming true to bring 'Digital Governance' in the country, he
said.
"Digitization
involves scanning all earlier files and sometimes even the files after they are
closed. This has no real benefit and is an expense exercise. Accountability to
citizens cannot be achieved unless transparency is built into our governance as
a default mode."
Gandhi, who
pronounced several landmark judgements in his four-year tenure (2008-2012) as
CIC, said, "When a citizen goes to any office for some work, he is often
told that the relevant file is unavailable. If he pays a bribe it becomes available.
A significant percentage of corruption and inefficiency is a consequence of
this method of keeping paper files."
"If all
work was done on computers and each day the default mode was that it would be
displayed on the website, there could be a sea change in our governance. Only
some information, which is thought to be exempt under the RTI Act, should not
go on the website," said the noted RTI activist.
"If
Parliament proceedings can be telecast live, there is no reason why our
executive brand cannot function in a transparent manner. Only with transparency
can there be hope of accountability."
Sharing his
experiences, Gandhi said, "The corrupt obviously dislikes transparency,
whereas the honest has the arrogance of believing they know best."
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