Sunday 25 December 2011

RTI ACT & GOVERNANCE WITH TRANSPARENCY

Dr Balraj Bishnoi          


Despite awareness & strict penalty under clause of RTI , Senior officer making a joke of the act.
Thus efforts of 2nd ARC ‘s 1st report i.e.key to Good Governance is ? by senior bureaucrates.
The most contentious issue in the implementation of the Right to Information Act
relates to official secrets. In a democracy, people are sovereign and the elected government
and its functionaries are public servants. Therefore by the very nature of things,
transparency should be the norm in all matters of governance. However it is well recognised
that public interest is best served if certain sensitive matters affecting national security
are kept out of public gaze. Similarly, the collective responsibility of the Cabinet demands
uninhibited debate on public issues in the Council of Ministers, free from the pulls and
pressures of day-to-day politics. People should have the unhindered right to know the
decisions of the Cabinet and the reasons for these, but not what actually transpires within
the confines of the ‘Cabinet room’. The Act recognizes these confidentiality requirements
in matters of State and Section 8 of the Act exempts all such matters from disclosure.

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