Structure:

• Write a short note on RTI act and its features- 50 words
• Critical evaluation of RTI- success and failures- 100 words

Content:

Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information by various Public Authorities under the government of India as well as the State Governments. The law imposes a penalty for wilful default by government officials. Citizens can ask for anything that the government can disclose BUT, Information that can prejudicially impact internal security, relations with foreign countries, intellectual property rights, breach of parliamentary privilege and impedes investigations cannot be shared with the public.

What makes Right To Information Act 2005 special is its power and practicality to seek and get information from government authorities. The law also promoted transparency and accountability in public authorities.

Salient Features of Right To Information Act 2005

• Replaced Freedom of Information Act
• Jammu and Kashmir has separate Right To Information Act – RTI
• RTI relaxes restrictions placed by Official Secrets Act
• 3 Levels – Public Information Officer, First Appellate Authority, Central Information Commission(CIC).
• Time period for Public Information Officer : Expeditiously or within 30 days from the date of receipt by public
• Maximum time gap for 1st appeal : 30 days since limit of supply of information is
• Time period for Appellate Authority : Within 30 days or in exceptional cases 45 days from the date of receipt by public
• Maximum time gap for 2nd appeal : 90 days since limit of supply of information is
• RTI act also asks for computerization and proactively publish
• Bodies applicable under RTI : Constitutional bodies at center and state ( Legislature, Executive, Judiciary), bodies/NGOs owned/financed by government, privatized public utility
• Bodies excluded under RTI : Central Intelligence and Security Agencies, agencies of state specified through notification. The exclusion is not absolute.
• Central Information Commission shall consist of : 1 Chief Information Commissioner and upto 10 Central Information
• The Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office and shall not be eligible for
• 31 sections and 6 chapters in the

Important exemptions of RTI Act:

• Section 24 of the RTI Act 2005 says that this law is not applicable to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule. However, the only exception these organisations have is for information on allegations of corruption and human rights violations
• Second Schedule: It includes 26 intelligence and security agencies under its ambit. Some of them are (i) Intelligence Bureau (IB), (ii) Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of the Cabinet Secretariat (iii) Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), (iv) Special Frontier Force (SFF), (v) Border Security Force (BSF) (vi) National Security Guards (NSG) and (Vii) Assam Rifles
• Section 8 of the RTI: It deals with exemption from disclosure of information under this It says that there shall be no obligation on Government to provide any citizen information, disclosure which will affect (i) India’s sovereignty and integrity, (ii) security, (iii) strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state and (iv) relations with foreign States or (v) will lead to incitement of an offence

Critical Analysis of Performance of RTI

• Right to Information Act was hailed as an important event in the democracy of India. It provided people with power to gain information and to use that information to assert their other rights and provide a check on the working governmental authorities by bringing transparency and
• But the implementation of RIT act did not happen as was imagined:

1. There are many areas which are out of limits of RIT act (Even, application of RTI to judiciary and legislature is limited).
2. The exclusion of law enforcement agencies is major cause of discontent of RIT
3. Disregard of announcements of Chief Information Commission by political parties indicate the lack of power to enforce the rulings of
4. The recent controversy of non-appointment of CIC for a long-time shows the apathy of government towards the
5. Official Secrets Act, framed by colonial power still restricts much information out of the purview whether they did not have any relevance to security and integrity of For example Correspondence related to Subhash Chandra Bose.
6. All the government organisations were asked to put in public general information but this was not followed by many institutions and there is no deadline to this
7. Appointment of IC is partisan
8. Information is presented in a technical language by government departments
9. Maintenance of information is not automated and efficient
10. Awareness of act is low among masses
11. Costs is sometimes high
12. Bureaucratic pre-eminence in information commissions results in promotion of traditional bureaucratic ethos of secrecy and lack of accountability.

• Performance wise other than the implementation failure RTI is effectively been used by activists even at the cost of their Various Public Interest Litigations are filed in courts to change the course of executive. The base of recent check on public advertisement was based on the findings of RTI.
• RIT is a strong tool to use the democratic space provided in India to ensure transparent and a accountable government. Some problems still remain in implementation and provisions but overall RTI is effectively use by many activists and can provide a check on excessive and unnecessary power of executive and other governmental