India is considered the largest democracy in the world. The basic feature of every democratic setup is transparency, openness, and accountability. In India, public authorities or administrative authorities have a wide discretionary power, so feel has been arisen in the mind of legislators as well public that this may lead to misuse of power which will ultimately result in maladministration and corruption. For this purpose, there should be a right vested in the common people of the country to access the information regarding the conduct or act discharged by public officials, so the system of check and balance can be maintained.
Therefore, the Right to Information has emerged. Right to Information implies that the public can participate in governance by accessing the information held by administrative or public authorities regarding the function discharged by them for the public welfare. It is not only a statutory right but also a fundamental right of a citizen to know the information related to the public act performed by public authorities. It is fundamental for good governance and makes governmental authorities more transparent and accountable towards the common people of a country. There is a proximate relation between the Right to Information and Administrative law as Administrative law can be defined as a “branch of public law deals with the operation performed by administrative authorities”, and Right to Information empowers the public to access information held by public authorities.
Need
Right to information is the need of the current scenario because it assists to maintain transparency and accountability in government work. It helps to create a situation where the general public can get details of government action, plans, Yojana, schemes, etc., which aids to enhance the responsiveness of government towards society. Right to Information Act in India took around 80 years to transform a grimy system of authority, valid by the “colonial officials secrets act”, where people can demand the “right to information”. India having a feeling of self-esteem in being the largest democracy, but with the passing of the recent enactment of the “Right to Information Act, 2005”. India has also become a strong democracy. The remarkable shift for Indian democracy, for more access to the information by the citizen. Its “main focus on transparency and accountability to the public authorities has been financedby the government”. Right to information has constitutional status, also it is enforced from Article 19 (1)(a) which talks about “fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression”.
This Act is very necessary for each and everyone due to this our government officials and public institutions gathered information and work upon them. It embedded the right of every citizen of India to have access or control of the information related to finance to any authority by the state, thereby responsibility arises on the authority to use the information effectively without including into any corrupt activities. “In one of the cases, the Supreme Court of India ruled that every person has a right to know about expenses and assets against candidates for election because these candidates offer the public services with their desire so that they cannotdemand exemption from any of the details related to assets or any charges against them.” According to the above case, not only candidates but political parties, worship places, education centers, but even private schools and public companies fall under this Act.
The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKKS) was founded by social activists Aruna Roy and Nikhil Day in the year 1990 in the state of Rajasthan. This organization plays a very important role in the struggle for the right to information. With the efforts of activists and international agencies, a large number of states enforced RTI Acts. They were Tamil Nadu (1996), Goa (1997), Madhya Pradesh (1998), Maharashtra (2000), Rajasthen (2000), Karnataka (2000 ), Delhi(2001), Assam (2002), and Jammu Kashmir(2003).
WHAT DOES IT DO
Right to Information Act, 2005 promotes harmonious construction between people and the government of people. Earlier, where the situation arose public officers became superior-oriented rather than service-oriented because there were no checks upon them regarding their services. But the RTI Act, provide a straitjacket solution to make public officer again service-oriented. Now under RTI Act, people have the right to get details of public authorities so, it creates a fear of exposing the mind of the public servant, which is changing the attitude of public officers towards their duties and responsibilities. Role of Right to Information Act,2005 for Good Governance because RTI Act helps to improvement in accountability, the performance of government. The act facilitates a mechanism to access information by the public from public office. Any kind of administrative action or quasi-judicial judgment taken by any public authorities so, minute details are required to maintain. The general public or affected parties can collect that information from public office and time. Act also appreciates the participation of citizens in the decision-making process. NGO, co-operation, institution or general people have right to get information regarding various yojana, plans, schemes, allocation of resources and funds by the government in a rural and urban area. With the help of those data NGO and social welfare, the institution gets an idea about the problem in the society and their solutions too. Act provides aids to reduce corruption in public offices, now the public officer is not utilizing the fund for their private use, and not abuse their public power.
CONCLUSION
Right to information is a weapon in the hands of citizens of the country to know the functions performed by public authorities, the purpose of the public transaction said to be done in the name of the public act, and the source of finance to discharge such functions. Right to information exists before the enactment of the Right to Information Act,2005 because it is considered as one of the fundamental rights within the purview of Article 19 (1)(a). This right promote transparency, accountability in function discharge by public authorities. Although the Right to information is considered an advancement in India it suffers from several drawbacks which need to be revised and improved.
Aishwarya Says:
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