Right to information

The Right to Information (RTI) Act has completed 10 years of implementation. there are at least 50 lakh RTI applications filed in India every year.
RTI, in many ways, offers that measure of hope.

In the world of democratic politics, people face the bleak[bleek(hopeless,निराशाजनक)] scenario of political, economic and social promises being twisted to serve personal profit.

the RTI has begun to do just that. Without debating the hierarchies[hI-u,raa-ku(classified,वर्गीकृत)] of who can ask questions and who must provide answers, the Act has begun to encourage a culture of asking questions. We are far from being an open society, but the RTI is opening our minds to what such a society might be.

It’s not often that one can see the impact of a law in terms of its social and philosophical implications. The RTI is a process of dismantling[dis'man-tu-ling(break,तोडना)] illegitimate concentrations of power. We can expose the lies and the cheating, not merely in monetary terms.

The RTI is messy, untidy, incomplete, and, of course, imperfect. But that is its strength: It can help us escape from policy paralysis, and build a more informed, equitable and robust[row'búst(strong,सुदृढ़)] decision-making process.

A bureaucrat friend, not particularly enamoured[i'na-mud(attract,मोहित)] by the RTI, reluctantly[ri'lúk-tunt-lee(unwillingly,अनिच्छुक)] conceded to us, “There is one thing I must acknowledge — when any government servant picks up a pen to write on a file, he or she has RTI on their mind. This is one of the best forms of deterrence[di'te-run(t)s(prevention,निवारक)] against wrongdoing we can have.” That was an acknowledgment of incredible universal impact covering everyone at all times. If we want to usher[ú-shu(show,दिखाना)] in a paradigm of transparency, it is clear that bureaucrats must have the friendly ghost of the RTI implanted in their psyche.

Let’s imagine for a moment that India had not passed the RTI a decade ago. What would it be like today? Not just a less accountable, more corrupt, opaque[ow'peyk(unclear,अस्पष्ठ)] government, but also a far more discouraging and despairing country. Despite what the sceptic[skep-tik(doubter,संशयवादी)] said in Beawar 20 years ago, India has passed a strong RTI law. The people of Beawar held a meeting to celebrate ten years of the RTI, and said they had not dreamt how far this would go in 20 years. Subsequently, the Municipal Corporation of Beawar passed a unanimous[yoo'na-nu-mus(complete agreement,सर्वसम्मति)] resolution to build a memorial at the spot at Chang Gate where the 40-day dharna took place in 1996, launching the RTI movement in India. Its foundation stone was laid on October 13 this year. To have a city celebrate a law and identify itself with it is a sign of strong and sustained citizen activism.

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