Right to information as a tool of good governance

Today, in addition to this Act, we have the benefit of internet. Also most of the youth today do not bribe to get jobs. Even if a small number of such people who can handle technology effectively are motivated to fight corruption it can do wonders. Such optimism was unthinkable only a few years back. The RTI Act, young people and internet can really bring in the real freedom to everybody.

So, we are at a distinct advantage as we are empowered by technology. India is graded year after year as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. By fighting corruption we are making our own tomorrow better.

RTI Act recognizes that information held in any form should be made available to citizens. In fact, samples of materials used also come under the definition of information.

Overriding all other facts, the RTI Act allows information pertaining to third parties to be given to the citizen even if prohibited by the earlier Acts. The only requirement is that the information sought should be in public interest.

As far as information held by the Government including personal information, the Act allows one to get such information without even giving any reason as to why you need that information. The RTI Act not only helps the citizens but also the whistle-blower and to recognize whether a particular person is a genuine whistle-blower or not, all one has to do is see files handled by him earlier. In this way supporting a whistle-blower is a much easier task today. Right to Information is a fundamental human right allowing access to public information and is well established, both in legislation and in practice.

It has been swiftly gaining popularity in many parts of the world as an effective tool to strengthen participatory democracy, promote good governance, check corruption and help ensure other rights thereby building an open and accountable society.

As a result, billions of people around the world now enjoy the right to access information held by their governments and public agencies. Millions of people around the world have utilized these laws to access public information, to expose and check corruption, to enhance their ability to participate in public affairs, to improve public service delivery and to protect other human rights, opportunities and justice.

Good governance is fundamentally the combination of transparent and accountable institutions, strong and competence, and a fundamental willingness to do the right thing. These are the things that enable a government to deliver services to its people efficiently.

Transparency, accountability, informed citizenry and reduction in corruption being the critical elements of good governance, the Act looks forward to realization of greater good for the larger spectrum of citizens. Right of access to information encompasses right to participation, accountability and transparency and realization of the right holds the promise of promoting and strengthening citizen led initiative for good governance.

Access to information holds centrality in realization of good governance helping mounting of citizen led demand for transparency, accountability, predictability, responsiveness and participation.

UNDP defines good governance in terms of eight specific characteristics i. In India, the concept of good governance was applied through the passing of RTI Act, , 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment. Right to information is a basic requisite of good governance and the Act has played a major role in good governance as it has helped in making the system transparent and accountable. RTI Act has played a significant role in strengthening democracy by promoting decentralization of power and good governance.

RTI Act gave the common people a defining power to shape the government schemes and policies. Governance was no more an arbitrary privilege of select few. RTI Act lent voice to the aspirations of ordinary citizens in issues of governance. The best way to deal with all these challenges while promoting good governance is by making the Act redundant. The governments, instead of waiting for the common people to seek information, must voluntarily make all the information available to the people.

It will not only promote good governance but also increase the trust between government and the people it governs.

RTI Act has lent voice to the aspirations of ordinary citizens in issues of governance. It gave the common people a defining power to shape the government schemes and policies. It empowered the people to question, audit, review, examine, and assess government acts and decisions to ensure that these are consistent with the principles of public interests, good governance and justice.

The greater the access of the citizen to the information, the greater would be the responsiveness of the government to community needs. Without information, the common man cannot adequately exercise his rights and responsibilities or make informed choices. So Right to Information is the most effective instrument to check corruption where the citizen has the right to take the initiatives to seek information from the state and thereby promotes openness, transparency and accountability in administration by making the government more open to public scrutiny.

It also empowered the people to seek definite and direct answer from the officials of their works or lack of it thus facilitating and encouraging the participation of common people in the process of good governance.

RTI Act democratized the information and decentralized the power. Power no more remains confined to select few, rather it was made available equally to all the citizens. Under RTI Act, citizens and citizen groups are empowered to approach the concerned department and check the planning and development permissions in detail as to whether they were given after giving due consideration to all factors or any undue compromise is made to favour some groups. They can make appeals to the authorities based on their actual monitoring of actual development and its deviation from sanctions.

The citizens and citizen groups can make effective use of the RTI Act to ensure that the self-employment benefits reach the appropriate target groups laid down under the programme and that they are effectively utilised for the employment generation of the unemployed.

The RTI Act can be used as an effective tool in ensuring that the unemployed and under-employed have got livelihood and acquire employment through improved skills. In the absence of employment generation, this can help people in requesting and demanding employment generation programmes from the ULB.

The RTI Act can be used as an effective tool in ensuring that the incentives proposed for organized women groups are properly provided and the women groups are empowered and benefited socially and economically. So, undoubtedly RTI Act serves as a great tool of empowerment for the common people.

The passing of 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment has become a mean for ensuring effective governance since the twin aim of decentralization i. People are biggest stakeholder in governance; they have a critical and crucial role to play in promoting good governance in the country. Participation envisages involvement of the entire society in governance.

Both men and women are the cornerstone of good governance. Representative democracy does not mean the rule of chosen few; it must take into interest of all sections specially the most vulnerable sections in the society. On the one side, some researchers take participation to mean simply engaging with any particular activity [xxiv] ; on the other side, researchers define participation as a process through which people influence and share control over development initiatives.

Good governance requires that civil society has the opportunity to participate during the formulation of development strategies and that directly affected communities and groups should be able to participate in the design and implementation of programmes and projects.

Even where projects have a secondary impact on particular localities or population groups, there should be a consultation process that takes their views into account.

Right to information facilities citizens in making political and economic choices and thus strengthens democracy. But RTI Act paved the way for active participation of the common people in promoting good governance.

People have showed increased interest in the affairs of government and sought information regarding various issues affecting their lives and well-being. RTI Act empowered the people to seek definite and direct answer from the officials of their works or lack of it. RTI applications have annually increased by 8 to 10 times. Thus, there is massive use of the right to know. Of the millions of applications for information, less than 5 per cent have been denied information under various exemption categories.

So, accountability has invariably led to efficiency and a sense of responsibility among government officials. Transparency is the corner stone of any good government. Public has right, to know about the policies and programmes of the government. All communication of the government must be opened to the public. The Right to Information act is intended to promote accountability and transparency in government by making the process of government decision making more open.

Though some departments of the Union government are exempted from this Act but the information can be sought if it is concerned with violation of human rights. Even the information from the private authority can be sought only through the controlling authority and controlling authority will send the notice to the institution concerned under section 11 of the Act.

It has been realized by most of the countries through experience that greater access of the citizens to information enhances the openness of government to community needs. In turn, this facilitates immediate redressed of public grievances and thus improves feeling of goodwill towards the government. In India, the government passed a landmark Right to Information Act in Since then, social activists, civil society organizations, and ordinary citizens have effectively used the Act to tackle corruption and bring greater transparency and accountability in the government.

As far as its utilization by the individual citizen or the common man goes, the figures are far from satisfactory. Trends tell us that the use of RTI by the common man has been sparse and not up to the mark. Right to information enables citizens to see how governments, those in public offices are working. In the absence of any public interest in seeking information, the RTI gets degenerated into settling scores and mudslinging. Indiscriminate and impractical demands by applicants with no relation to transparency, accountability and eradication of corruption are proving to be counterproductive.

The executive and government machinery gets tied to non-productive work affecting the efficiency of administration. RTI has also brought transparency in the system.

According to ranking of Transparency International, India stood up at 94, out of nations. After enactment of this Act, many cases of corruption came to light. From the Commonwealth Games to the 2G scam, RTI queries have been the starting point of exposure in a score of recent cases of corruption. It is the most powerful weapon in hands of common people to challenge the impenetrable fortress of officialdom.

As social activists, civil society organizations, and ordinary citizens have effectively used the Act, the law is increasingly being able to tackle high profile corruption. With corruption being viewed as one of the biggest obstacles, an empirical study concluded that the RTI negatively impacted corruption and its statistical impact on curbing corruption was quite significant. The study conducted in 20 states found that the Act has reduced the corruption in an average state by Thus, it shows a strong and positive impact of RTI on transparency and accountability of the Government.

In , K. The information he received was revealing: the ponds had never been constructed even though money had been allocated and spent. Following complaints from villagers, the local administration was forced to take action and suspend the officials involved in the pond scam. Civil society organizations have also played an important role in raising public awareness about RTI and assisting citizens in filing requests for information. Public addresses are organized in many towns and programmes are arranged specially for college students.

Posters, banners and folders are printed and distributed in thousands. All this have resulted in the awakening of the citizens and have made them aware of their fundamental Right to Information. In addition to such initiatives, the law is increasingly being used to tackle high profile corruption. Working with TII and local allies, villagers have recovered money lost to corruption and enforced fines on officials who solicited bribes. Villagers are renewing democracy by participating in gram sabhas village assemblies , running for elected office, and demanding accountability.

In the model district of Mochha, Chhattisgarh, people are using RTI to secure employment, scholarships and pensions for the elderly. They also pressured government doctors and school teachers to show up at work regularly. Villagers in Madhubani district, Bihar used RTI to expose a solar-light scam, leading to charges against corrupt officials. Due to corruption, only 10 percent could reach the real beneficiaries of the poverty alleviation programmes earlier.

Rest of the money percolated to the purses of corrupt officers and politicians. Now, due to the Act of Right to Information, the poor villagers will get their due share in the development process.

Rule No. Stew Leonard. Dimensions of Accountability Meeting specified performance standards and targets based on verifiable indicators Legal Accountability Performance Accountability How responsive and Public accountable are power holders to their clients and citizens Adherence and conformance to legal and administrative rules, code of conduct etc. Financial Accountability How power holders manage public funds. To an outsider, it seems like an industry that pays an enormous amount of attention to numbers.

People in government are always counting something or churning out some statistical report. But most of this counting is focused on inputs; how much is spent, how many are served, level of service each person receives. Why Measure Performance? What gets measured gets done. If you can demonstrate results, you can win public support.