JOIN USThe authors of the Global Democracy Index have pushed India 10 ranks down from 32 to 42 based on mainly two issues that they think have hurt our democracy: the rise of Hindutva majoritarianism and its consequences to India's plural society; and the curbing of media freedoms. They have missed out on what's happening on another important front – transparency in governance, in general, and this government's outlook on the citizens' Right to Information.
The Right to Information (RTI) Act promotes free flow of information to ensure transparency and accountability in the functioning of government to enable citizens to take informed decisions to realise their aspirations and entitlements.
However, the experiences of RTI applicants show that the government is hiding more than it reveals. This is evident from the level of mandatory disclosures made by the government as well as the responses to RTI applications by various departments.
The government has not disclosed mandatory information under section 4 of the RTI Act, which is why a large number of RTI appeals and complaints are filed with the Central Information Commission (CIC). By the time information is disclosed as per CIC's direction, it loses relevance and utility. This raises a question: is the functioning of the central government transparent as the Modi government claims or is it hiding more than what it reveals to the public through social media and advertisements?
The functioning of the government is shrouded in secrecy. That's an observation by the Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM), of the Department of Personnel and Training, which functions under the prime minister himself.
The ISTM's assessment is that most government departments do not comply with section 4 of the RTI Act. Even in this digital age, neither are websites properly constructed nor is data and information regularly updated. Thus, information that should be in the public domain is not, which hints at the perpetuation of the 'culture of secrecy' by the bureaucracy and the political leadership. Lack of transparency jeopardises the effective functioning of democratic institutions that protect the constitutional rights of people.
For instance, a huge amount of vital information is not displayed on the official websites of government departments. These include information on:
Decision-making process, delegation of powers, duties and responsibilities of officials and the system of compensation paid to them;
Minutes of meetings of committees and boards, details of Acts, rules, instruments, manuals, office orders, custodians of various categories of documents held by the organisation;
RTI applications and appeals received and responses.
Details of domestic and foreign visits undertaken by officials.
Discretionary and non-discretionary grants and details of beneficiaries of subsidies;
Sources and methods of funding of political parties and identification of donors; and,
Details about Public Private Partnerships and outcomes of such ventures.
Citizens are being forced to file RTI applications for information that should have been in the public domain.
Worse, consider the following responses to RTI applications:
In the last six months, more than Rs 55,356 crore was written off by Public Sector Banks. The beneficiary institutions or individuals are, however, not identified. In the RTI regime, such information should have been voluntarily disclosed to the public.
Railway Board has refused to share the details of losses in the last five years. Should it not be known to the public?
NN Vohra Committee Report, 1983, on nexus between politicians and criminals has been disclosed but its annexures have been withheld as missing or untraceable.
Special Investigation Team's closure report on 1984 riots have been withheld to discourage scrutiny of the investigation.
Details of land encroachments are denied by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on flimsy grounds.
The CIC has directed PMO to disclose who all have accompanied PM Modi on his foreign tours, but the PMO is yet to do so.
On the other hand, it was an RTI query that forced the Modi government to reveal that it has spent Rs 3,755 crore on publicity so far and that the government spends over Rs 2 crore every month on Twitter and Facebook activity. This huge expenditure can be avoided if the government voluntarily puts in the public domain the relevant details of its activities and achievements.
Educational qualifications are not secret documents as the degree/diploma awarding institutions display the score of marks/grades on the notice boards and declare them during annual convocations. Yet, a few institutions have chosen to disallow access to the education results of individuals in high places, including PM Modi and I&B minister Smiriti Irani. Many people have acquired degrees through fraudulent methods. Former Delhi Law minister Jitender Singh Tomar of the Aam Aadmi Party, had to resign after being arrested for allegedly using fake degrees to enrol as an advocate.
In response to several appeals, the CIC has declared that a political party is a public authority to be covered under the ambit of RTI Act so that the sources and methods of its funding is duly identified and accounted for. However, political parties have connived to evade disclosure of collection of funds which, in effect, becomes a source of influencing political decision-making to favour the donors at the costs of the innocent majority of citizens and the national interest. The recently introduced instrument of electoral bonds for political funding is designed to encourage corruption as the identity of the donor is kept secret. This is the root cause of corruption. The very purpose of RTI legislation is thus defeated. Can India call itself a democracy if its government and political parties hide crucial information from the people? Can Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas or Achhe Din, be achieved by being unaccountable to the people?
(The writer is a former Central Information Commissioner and member, UGC)