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Colonial Acts and Denial of InformationThe battle for appropriate legislation for RTI has been fought on two main planks. Thefirst was a demand for amendment of the draconian colonial Official Secrets Act,1923 and the second one was a campaign for an effective law on RTI. The OfficialSecrets Act, 1923 is a replica of the erstwhile British Official Secrets Act and dealswith espionage and the damaging ‘catch all’ Section 5, which makes it an offence topart with any information received in the course of official duty to non-officials.During the beginning of the 90s, the focus of citizens’ groups shifted from demandingmerely an amendment to the Official Secrets Act to the demand for its outright repealand its replacement by a comprehensive legislation, which would make disclosurethe duty and secrecy the offence. Even a powerful grassroots organisation like MazdoorKisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) continues to experience enormous difficulties insecuring access to the copies of government documents, despite clear administrativeinstructions that on demand certified copies of such public documents should beavailable to all the citizens irrespective of any discrimination. This highlighted theimportance of people’s RTI, which should be enforceable by law.Constitution and Right to InformationFor the transparent functioning of the democratic political system, the founding fathersof the Constitution included the provisions of the right to expression in part three ofthe Constitution in the Fundamental Rights.While there is no specific RTI or even right tofreedom of the press in the Constitution ofIndia, the RTI has been embedded into theConstitutional guarantee, which is a part ofthe Chapter on Fundamental Rights.The Indian Constitution has an impressivearray of basic and inalienable rights containedin Chapter three of the Constitution. Theseinclude the Right to Equality Before the Law(Article 14), the Right to Freedom of Speech andExpression [Article 19 (1)(a)] and the Right toLife and Personal Liberty (Article 21). The RightWhile there is no specificRTI or even right tofreedom of the press inthe Constitution of India,the RTI has beenembedded into theConstitutional guarantee,which is a part of theChapter on FundamentalRightsto Constitutional Remedies in Article 32 backs these, i.e. the Right to approach theSupreme Court in case of infringement of any of these rights. These rights have receiveddynamic interpretation by the Supreme Court over the years and can truly said to bethe basis for the development of the Rule of Law in India.The legal position with regard to RTI has developed through several Supreme Courtdecisions given in the context of all the above rights, but more specifically in thecontext of the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression, which has been said to bethe adverse side of the Right to Know, and one cannot be exercised without the other.10Model Framework for Replication: Usages of RTI in Rural Rajasthan, India
The interesting aspect of these judicial pronouncements is that the scope of the righthas gradually widened, taking into account the cultural shifts in the polity and thesociety.The development of RTI as a part of the Constitutional Law of the country started withpetitions of the press to the Supreme Court for enforcement of certain logisticalimplications of the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression, such as challenginggovernmental orders for control of newsprint bans on distribution of papers, etc. Itwas through these cases that the concepts of the public’s right to know developed.Supreme Court and Right to InformationFor more than two decades, the Supreme Court of India has recognised the RTI as aconstitutionally protected fundamental right,established under the Article 19 (Right toFreedom of Speech and Expression) and Article21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution. The Courthas recognised the right to access toinformation from government departments asfundamental to democracy. Justice K K Mathewof the Supreme Court of India said that “In agovernment...where all the agents of the publicmust be responsible for their conduct, therecan be but few secrets. The people have a rightto know every public act, everything that is donein a public way, by their publicfunctionaries...The responsibility of officialsto explain or to justify their acts is the chiefsafeguard against oppression and corruption”.Progressive Politicians and Right to InformationFor more than twodecades, the SupremeCourt of India hasrecognised the RTI as aconstitutionally protectedfundamental right,established under theArticle 19 (Right toFreedom of Speech andExpression) and Article21 (Right to Life) of theConstitutionFor the first time, among the politicians of India, in 1990, VP Singh, the then PrimeMinister of India headed by National Front Government, stressed the importance ofthe RTI Act as a legislated right. Due to lack of political support and will, the RTI Act didnot materialise during VP Singh’s tenure.The freedom movement, the Constitution of India, the Supreme Court and some of thepoliticians supported RTI, but it could not materialise due to various reasons such aspolicy support, institutional arrangements, etc. Therefore, to have a strong RTI Act inplace at the Central level, strong grassroots level movement was needed. The MKSS,Parivartan, etc., fulfilled the gap of the grassroots level movement and intellectualpressure and inputs were given by the ‘National Campaign for People’s Right toInformation’ and ‘Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’.Model Framework for Replication: Usages of RTI in Rural Rajasthan, India 11
Page 2: Next, screw the pipe flange to the
Page 10: PrefaceDemocratic freedom cannot be
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 1About the ToolkitWhat is t
Page 15 and 16: Chapter 2Executive SummaryBackgroun
Page 17 and 18: DurationThe duration of the project
Page 19 and 20: eneficiaries and were filed individ
Page 21: Chapter 3Growth Process and Salient
Page 25 and 26: accountability, responsiveness, soc
Page 27 and 28: 11. The various exemptions from dis
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 4Major Activities and Outco
Page 31 and 32: • Wide media coverage at the stat
Page 33 and 34: Block level officials, leading NGOs
Page 35 and 36: ImportanceThese inputs definitely i
Page 37 and 38: transparency and accountability sha
Page 39 and 40: Self-disclosure of Information by G
Page 41 and 42: Chapter 5Special EndeavoursRTI Advi
Page 43 and 44: ImportanceSince the questionnaires
Page 45 and 46: FindingsAwareness about locationOnl
Page 47 and 48: High rate of Corruption (%)Registra
Page 49 and 50: In IAY, 34 percent reported (pre-RG
Page 51 and 52: Awareness Regarding Filing Process1
Page 53 and 54: Reasons of RTI Application Rejectio
Page 55 and 56: Prevalence of Corruption (%)Reasons
Page 57 and 58: Chapter 6Impact and LearningProject
Page 59 and 60: and factors which are affect corrup
Page 61 and 62: • There is no any cash collection
Page 63 and 64: Chapter 7Success Stories1. A Job Ca
Page 65 and 66: office, who suggested to him to fil
Page 67 and 68: 7. Provision of Penalty Among Servi
Page 69 and 70: Annexures1. Advocacy-cum-Disseminat
Page 71 and 72: 3. List of CGCCsJaipur1 Sailendra K
Page 73 and 74:
4. RAIC Calls DetailsDepartment/ Ma
Page 75 and 76:
6. Research FormatsCGCC Feedback Fo
Page 77 and 78:
First/Second Appeal Application(Und
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10. What impact this Act has create
Page 81 and 82:
19. How the corrupt processes can b
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8. Log Frame MatrixNarrative Summar
Page 85 and 86:
Narrative SummaryVerifiable Indicat
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Narrative SummaryVerifiable Indicat
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Usages of RTI in Rural Rajasthan, India - Consumer Unity & Trust ...

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