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Right to Information and Good Governance in the Indian Context

M. R. Biju , M. R. Biju

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International Journal of Political Science 1(1):p 55-66, . | DOI:
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Abstract

 Transparency seems to be the only means for sustaining democratic governance. That is why the right to information has been legislated in about 70 countries of the world, and another 30 countries are in the process of legislation. It was in this context that the RTI was enacted in India in 2005. The experience of 5 years shows that the response to this Act has been very positive and optimistic. It has also been widely welcomed by the people at all levels. They have been seeking various types of Information from different authorities. The RTI Act confers on all citizens the right to seek information and makes it the duty of the public authorities to disseminate the same for better governance and accountability. It covers the central, state and local governments and recipients of Government Grants but does not apply to the intelligence and security organizations except if the information released to the allegations of corruption. Objections to the Official Secrets Act have been raised ever since 1948, when the Press Laws Enquiry Committee recommended certain amendments. In fact, the Act has been used time and again to suit the purposes of the government. In 1977, a Working Group was formed by the Janata Party government to look into the possibilities of amending the Official secrets Act. Unfortunately, the Working Group did not recommend changes, as it felt that the Act related to the protection of national safety and did not prevent the release of information in the public interest; despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Official Secret act remained unaltered. In early 1989, V. P. Singh’s National Front Government came to power and declared its decision to make Right to Information a fundamental right.

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