Achievements and Challenges

Achievements in Last 15 Years

• Around five to eight million RTI applications are filed every year, showing the popularity of the law
• “RTI laga denge” (we will file an RTI application) has become a rallying call. The argumentative Indian, who is now speaking truth to power, cannot and will not be gagged
• This act ensures that the Government is held accountable every day instead of once in 5 years
• The RTI act promotes openness in government activities and allows its citizens to know what is going on in the government. A study of RTI applications reveals that ordinary people demand information regarding expenditures on roads, life-saving medicines in hospitals, disappearing rations etc
• It has helped to expose entrenched vested interests in policy making and implementation. Various scams like 2G (allocations of 2G spectrum) Scam, Coal Gate scam (coal blocks allocations) were unearthed due to the RTI
• The RTI was one of the first laws in the Rights-based regime and has inspired a spate of other rights-based laws like the Right to Education, Forest Rights Act
• Notwithstanding the implementation roadblocks, it is internationally acclaimed as amongst the strongest RTI laws in the world

Challenges in the Implementation of the Act

• Section 4 (1)(a) of the Act says that every public authority shall maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed, and all records should be computerised. But this hasn’t been done yet
• Section 4 (2) of the Act says that every public authority should constantly endeavour to provide as much information suo-moto to the public at regular intervals. But this remains an unfinished promise
• Delays have been witnessed in appointments to higher posts, including even the post of CIC lying vacant since August 2014 and were filled only in July 2015
• Political parties continue to remain outside the purview of the Act
• A large number of appeals are pending with State and Central Information Commissions. A report brought out by the RTI Assessment and Analysis Group (RAAG) in 2014 has shown a waiting period of around 60 years in Madhya Pradesh and about 18 years in West Bengal (based on current rates of pendency in Information Commissions)
• Those who seek information on illegal construction, or alleged scams in social welfare schemes etc., face a threat to their life. The Commonwealth Human Initiative has observed that around 90 RTI activists have been killed since 2005. The said Act does not provide any protection to RTI Activists
• The Government staff is not trained adequately to reply to RTI queries. Besides, the colonial attitude of bureaucracy to withhold the information is acting as a barrier against disclosure
• Section 8 of the Act allows disclosure of information if the more significant public interest is served. But many times, such information is not disclosed by keeping it under the ‘national security clause’ of the Act. Recently the central government refused to disclose information related to the Rafael deal under the ‘national security and friendly relations with foreign countries’ clause
• There have been cases of misuse of RTIs by people by filing frivolous and Vexatious Requests
• In the past 15 years of its enactment, only around 2% of Indians have filed the RTI application till 2018. Many people feel hesitant to approach the authority to seek the information even if it is necessary