A thriving democracy is one where there is transparency and accountability at all levels of governance. This enables citizens who ought to be ultimate masters in this power equation to elect their leaders judiciously. Unfortunately in our country, even after 60 years of independence, we are yet to realize this power equation in its truest sense. Our governance systems and its working are largely opaque and there is very little accountability. How do we change this and participate in the process of changing these established power equations that will enable us to realize the dream of a true democracy?
Whose money is the Government spending? Does it have a magic wand that produces and mints money whenever it requires? A second thought of this question leads us to the answer. Even the poorest of the poor in the country pay taxes in the form of service tax, sales tax etc whenever they buy goods and avail services. So the conclusion is “We the citizens fund the government by paying different types of taxes and it is our money that the government is spending on various things”. So when it is our money that is being spent by someone else elected by us, Don’t we have the right to demand information on how this money is being spent and how policy decisions are taken to spend this money? We definitely do. Let us take a small example here - When you want to construct a house, we outsource the work to a mason and provide him with the money. We pay him for his services and expect that the money will be spent judiciously and that the work will be of the best quality. What if the mason delivers a sub standard product and siphons off a part of the money? Do we not throw him out and recover the amount from him? Let us extend this example to governance - We elect governments and provide it with the money. Government officers are paid salaries for rendering services to us. In very crude terms, Government is our collective mason. We appointed them to serve us and have also provided them with the required money. But do we ever question them? Throw them out or even recover the amounts siphoned off by them? All this even after consistently delivering sub standard services to us!!!
Now we have the most powerful tool to bring about this change. This is “Right to Information”. You can now demand any information from the government. About how the money is spent, about the policy decisions, about selections, elections, travels and list goes on. RTI is the most powerful tool that ordinary citizens have to wake up the dormant bureaucracy and bring in more transparency in Government departments. The RTI Act came into force on 12th October 2005. The purpose of the act is to ensure that the public has access to information which is under the control of various government authorities. It is designed to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every government department or institution at both central and state levels.
For more information, visit the site: www.rti.gov.in
The RTI Act came into force on 12th October 2005. The purpose of the act is to ensure that the public has access to information which is under the control of various government authorities. It is designed to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every government department or institution at both central and state levels. This Act overrides and has supremacy over the Official Secrets Act 1923, where applicable.
What is Information?
Information means any material in any form, including records, documents, manuscripts, memos, emails, opinions, advices, file noting, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples and models. Also data held in any electronic form such as fax, microfilm, microfiche, etc.
- You can take certified copies of documents, notes, extracts, contracts, etc.
- Inspect documents and records at government offices.
- Inspect works such as quality of roads.
- Obtain information in the form of printouts, disks, etc... ( soft copy or hard copy)
- Take certified physical samples of materials, such as, polluted water, road material, cement.
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Our RTI Co-ordinator is a key RTI activist in the state of AP.
Our voluneteers are also responsible for some of the landmark RTI stories in the state of AP. We are also an active part of the United forum for RTI campaign.
