The
Hindu: Jaipur: Saturday, September 14, 2019.
The launch of the Jan Soochna
Portal in Rajasthan is a vital cog in access to the right to information
The Jan Soochna Portal (JSP)
launched by the government of Rajasthan yesterday is a remarkable achievement
in furtherance of the right to information (RTI) especially Section 4 of the
RTI Act that deals with proactive disclosure of information. Transparency must
be accompanied by accountability, and that is where the JSP has great value and
significance since it places the power of making the State government
accountable to everyone who accesses the information made available on the
portal.
Has transparency accompanied
by accountability brought about transformation in any system? During my
association with the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India, and keeping
transparency in the justice delivery system in mind, a National Judicial Data
Grid was launched. This gave information about all pending cases across the
country. Some time back, a year-wise breakup of pending cases was given on the
grid and it was found that more than 70,000 cases were pending for over 30
years. These figures meant nothing until the justice delivery system was asked
to account for the enormous delay in such a large number of cases. Chief
Justices and Registrars in many courts appreciated the fact that they needed to
answer questions relating to such enormous delays; now many courts have begun
to concentrate on the disposal of old cases with considerable success. This is
a good example of transparency accompanied by accountability brought about by
civil society.
Several access points
I had the privilege of a
sneak preview of the JSP. Details of every activity of the government such as
availability of food grains and ration shops and their distribution,
implementation of various schemes and their beneficiaries and a variety of
other information are available on a real-time basis virtually making it a
Janta Information System. The portal has been arrived at through a regular and
rigorous consultative process between government officials, IT professionals
and civil society. Such a process of dialogue should be practised in all
spheres to genuinely harness the benefits of information technology. Digital
divide is indeed a serious problem in India. To bridge this, care should be
taken to ensure that access points are open and free.
Since the information is
available on the Internet, every citizen, right down to the municipal ward and
panchayat, has access to the information. For example, I saw that on a random
basis, a number of identified persons in a particular area had not availed
themselves of any rations for several months. Such persons can be easily
contacted and if they do not want to avail the benefits available to them, they
can surrender it in favour of some other deserving person. Similarly, the
government of Rajasthan, like some other States, has waived farmers’ loans. The
portal gives the details of every farmer in every bank branch whose loans have
been waived, along with the amounts. Another significant piece of information
is about mining leases. Illegal mining has been a major issue in different
parts of the country, with people unable to determine the details of clearances
given. This portal gives the list of mines in every district, provides
geographical coordinates, and the area where mining has been permitted,
including the land deed identifiers. It also provides details about pollution
and environment clearances. Finally, the portal provides details of production
and royalties and taxes paid. This kind of information can facilitate a
progressive partnership between government and citizens for a cleaner society.
What is important is that a
tremendous amount of information is available on the files of the government of
Rajasthan, which till date could only be accessed through the filing of RTI
applications. However, with the use of technology and digitisation of records
and information, this information is made freely available on the JSP. To this
extent, there is no need for anyone to take recourse to the RTI Act and await a
response. All information can be accessed immediately, free of cost.
Key challenges
The mere launch of the JSP is
not enough. There are huge challenges with regard to maintenance issues and
ensuring that there is no let-up in the availability of information. With this
in mind, draft guidelines have been framed for the development and maintenance
of the JSP. Once implemented, this will ensure that the information system
continues uninterrupted. Various departments of the government of Rajasthan,
called Line Departments, have been given a set of obligations that they are
expected to fulfil. For example, they are expected to ensure digitisation of
records. In addition, the Department of Information Technology will serve as
the nodal department for the development, operationalisation and maintenance of
the JSP.
This department has been
informed of its obligations, which includes adherence to the norms and
standards laid down by a digital dialogue advisory group. To ensure that the
responsibilities are carried out, the advisory group will be the monitoring
agency. Grievance redressal officers will be appointed so that citizens can
make the State government truly accountable.
Training for citizens
The government of Rajasthan
has also taken steps to train citizens so that they are aware of the facilities
available. This by itself may not be enough. Therefore, it has been decided to
host the JSP in decentralised locations, right down to the municipal ward and
panchayat levels. They will have access to welfare schemes, revenue activities
such as mining, and other service delivery issues such as health and education.
It would be wonderful if all
other State governments follow the Rajasthan government’s initiative, which
aims to make people, including the marginalised sections, a part of the
governance process.
Justice Madan Lokur is a
retired judge of the Supreme Court of India
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