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With the end of colonial days and with the rise of democracy and more
responsible governments the demand of informed citizenry has also increased. The spirit of a
modern democracy lies with the people’s right to take part in government’s decision making
process. As we live in a country with representative form of government, it is expected that we
know what the government is doing and for what reasons. Indian constitution does not specifically
provide for a right to information but it can be well derived from the right to equality under
article 14 , right to freedom of speech and expression under article 19(1)(a) and right to life
and personal liberty under article 21.As right to equality includes right against arbitrariness
it includes transparency in the government actions in the same manner. Supreme court has held in
several cases that freedom of information not only includes freedom of media but also includes
government held information. Right to life and personal liberty includes right to information as
it has already been given such a place in Indian legal system that denial of information
pertaining to any of its related rights is often a denial of the right as a whole.
Most of the government decisions are taken secretly and people are just ignorant of the reasons
for such decisions although they maybe deeply affected by them. As citizens are required to pay
taxes to the government, it becomes one quintessential duty on government’s part to disclose
whatever is necessary for the common man to know .
The general rule must be to provide access to all government held information with a very few
exceptions. Right to information Act came into force on 12 th October, 2005, with an express
intention of the legislature to harmonise the conflicting interests between the people’s right to
know and government’s duty to keep as secret ,some informations. The biggest impediment in
operationalising this law is the callous attitude of the public servants and the common practice
in government departments to treat a common man with the worst form of misdemeanors. As age-old
habits die hard it requires a great deal of sustained efforts and enthusiasm to change this
attitude of secrecy. The best ways in which right to information act can be made worth are-
1) proper training of every public servant regarding this Act’s operations
2) the operations ,utility and significance of this act should be publicized
3)there should also be one feedback arrangement where people have their opinions well placed
4)there should also be an extra education to public servants on attitudinal change
5)there should be an agency which monitors over every government department so that the
records are well maintained.
6)People from Ngos, legal luminaries, people from the media and social activists should be
taken-in to form a review committee which reviews the latest developments, required changes etc.
on an yearly basis.
7)Necessary changes should be brought in various laws to ensure free flow of information.
As a great deal of information is generated by both public and private institutions ,there
should be a legal provision that any information which has any public benefit may be sought from
both in the same manner.Ideally such a right should cover the actions of private organizations so
far as they affect the public interest.Various informations emanating from whatever organization
or institution may affect peoples’ lives vitally and it becomes indispensable in this era of
knowledge based society that law of the land gives an invincible right to information to the
common lot which acts in the furtherance of various desired national goals including elimination of corruption.
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