For citizens to exercise this fundamental right, there has to be machinery or a process in place, through which they can exercise this right. The RTI act lays down the process on how to apply for information, where to apply, how much fees, if any, etc. Unless we have an act, an ordinary citizen will not have adequate access to information held by a public authority. Without access to relevant information, it is not possible for a common man to participate in a meaningful debate on political and economic choices available to realise his socio-economic aspirations.
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan (u/a VII) guarantees the fundamental rights to free speech and expression. The prerequisite for enjoying this right is knowledge and information, which are indispensable for the fullest flowering of a democracy. In a largely oral society like ours, absence of authentic information on matters of public interest will only encourage wild rumours and speculation and avoidable allegations against individuals and institutions. Therefore, it is imperative that the right to freedom of information is made available to the general public and particularly to our journalists.
What is information? “Information” means material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data materials, etc, held by the government or other public authorities. Right to information means the right to obtain information from these public authorities by means of inspection, taking of extracts and notes, certified copies of any records of such public authority and diskettes, floppies or in any other electronic mode or through print-outs.
A basic principle behind the RTI legislation flows from the fact that people pay taxes. This money belongs to them and, therefore, they have a right to know how their money is being spent and how they are being governed.
Democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information, which are vital to its functioning, and also to contain corruption, and to hold governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed. The main objectives of the law on RTI are to operationalise the fundamental right to information; to set up systems and mechanisms that facilitate people’s easy access to information; to improve transparency and accountability of the government; to minimise corruption and inefficiency in public offices; and to ensure people’s participation in governance and decision making.
However, there is a fear in the bureaucracy that people might blackmail government servants by obtaining information for personal scores. RTI does not create any information. It just removes curtains and brings truth in public domain. If anyone blackmails someone subsequently, there are ample provisions under the law to address that.
Another fear among the bureaucrats is that the government might get flooded with RTI applications that would unnecessarily jam government machinery. These fears are hypothetical, an ignorant fret. Over 85 countries around the world have implemented such legislation, and the law has been hailed by many as a landmark in the history of their legislation.
Lack of openness to disclose the information relating to the functioning of the government could provide a fertile ground for breeding inefficiency and lack of accountability in the working of the public authorities, which, in turn, could perpetuate corruption. Development process should not be shrouded in secrecy. If allowed to do so, it will fuel rampant corruption, such as diverting large amount of public money from development projects and welfare schemes to private use, through misuse of power by the authorities. Therefore, the veil of secrecy should be lowered as much as possible in a young and flourishing democracy like ours. The RTI Act will serve to dismantle the culture of secrecy and change the mindset of bureaucrats and political leaders and thus create conditions for taking informed decisions.
Of course, there are standard exemptions that permit government to withhold access to information, generally in respect of international relations and national security; law enforcement and prevention of crime; information, particularly of an economic nature, when disclosed, would confer an unfair advantage on some person or subject or government, etc.
A large portion of our society is illiterate and most of our people are unaware of what RTI is and what the law entails. This further calls for our government, NGOs and media to make concerted efforts towards promotion of information literacy. Information literacy is defined as the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, organise and effectively create, use and communicate information to address an issue or problem. The role of NGOs is critical, in respect of both to constantly exert pressure for maximum disclosure of information relating to public activities, and to participate in designing and implementation of socio-economic programmes.
The opening sentence of one of the latest articles in Kuensel dated 30 September 2010, titled “Bridging the compliance gaps” states that “There is an urgent need to enact a comprehensive law for protection of witnesses, confiscation and forfeiture of proceeds of crime, money laundering and the right to information law.”
But our bureaucracy seems to hold to the notion that today is not the right time for discussing such laws with the public, let alone enacting them. It might do us good to rethink what it means to wait for the RTI law to “evolve itself gradually.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Lingchen
Quelle/Source: Kuensel, Buhutan's National Newspaper, 03.10.2010
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