Sakshi Trust "RTI"

With the introduction of the Right to Information Act in 2005, a significant door has been opened to the citizens of India to the way our government runs.

The Right to Information Act is a legislation that allows the public to access information regarding government spending and policy. Article 19(1) (a) of the Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights to free speech and expression. Like any other servant who is accountable to their employers the public servant is accountable to the people.

The Indian RTI Act has been acknowledged as one of the most progressive across the world. Some of its key features are:

(a)    Officers who don’t respond within the stipulated 30 days can be fined Rs.250 per day; further the same can affect their personal service records.

(b)    Complusory declaration under section 4(1)(b) of the Act which discloses all critical information about a public authority immediately and at cost.

(c)    Leaving out some 18 government bodies, every branch, department, ministry, public sector enterprise including the armed forces is bound to respond to request for information by citizens.

(d)    Separate information Commission for enforcement of the law at both state and central level.

(e)    Low cost of information and exemption of fees for below the poverty line citizens.

(f)    Requires Public Authorities to disclose some standard information voluntarily.

RTI upholds the notion of transparency and accountability in democratic governance. With relevance to this, the Act states:

-         The right of any citizen of India to request access to information and the corresponding duty of the government to meet the request, except exempted information (Section 18/19).

-         The duty of the government to proactively make available key information to all (Section 4).

Click here to download the Right to Information Act, 2005

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