RTI -Not yet a strong tool

BANGALORE: While the Right to Information Act has done its bit to ensure India is a successful working democracy, its implementation leaves a lot to be desired. Sadly, many citizens are still unaware of how to file applications. The suo motu disclosure should have been implemented within 120 days of enforcement of the Act, but it's still pending. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with organizations like CIVIC, CREAT, Kria Katte and PAC, organized a discussion on Saturday to assess how well the Act has been utilized in the past four years. CHRI programme coordinator Venkatesh Nayak said a study is needed to find out if it has affected government operations. RTI has worked best in tackling corruption and holding officers accountable, he pointed out. "The first two objectives of creating informed citizenry and transparency in government functioning haven't improved much." "Even if RTI Act has helped expose corruption, there is no plan to deal with such cases. They remain pending for long, till people forget about it. Gujarat has a special redressal system which helps deal with them faster," said Nayak. The government is still secretive about many issues. Citizens need to be vigilant about free trade agreements that the government is entering into with other countries and file RTI applications strategically to understand implications of such policies, Nayak pointed out. Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde said the right to information is as vital as the right to free speech. Though it is a statutory right and has its limitations, it gives citizens many opportunities. "We receive 20 to 30 cases per day. Since 1986, the composition of our staff has remained the same. We have nine judges and one of them is an information officer. The government has given us other assignments like the Nandguri SEZ, Hassan Ring Road, PWD recruitments, etc, which leaves us with less time to track corruption," he said. The Cromptroller and Auditor General's 2007-08 report points that a whopping Rs 51,000 crore has gone unaccounted for in eight government projects, which include JNNURM and NREGA. Chief information commissioner K K Mishra stressed on the need for a state-level RTI cell. He said 7,000 cases are pending with the commission. The government had commissioned a private company to review implementation of the Act in the past four years. Others like the National Campaign for People's Right To Information have also reviewed it in several states and the findings have been similar. "People still find it diffiocult to file RTI applications. It is pathetic. In all departments there should be a nodal officer to implement the Act," he said. He also recommended that 1 lakh common service centres the government is planning to set up should also accept RTI applications. * BBMP gets one of the highest number of RTI queries. In two cases from Ward No. 50, huge misappropriation of funds was revealed. In the case of asphalting of Ramaiyengar Road, Rs 3,60,650 was paid to the contractor but the work wasn't carried out * In the case of six roadside drains in the same ward, work was done according to the sanctioned estimate of Rs 6.55 lakh, but Rs 16.48 lakh was paid to the contractor.