India-US share tradition of political dynasties: prof

"India and the United States of America are similar on various counts. In terms of the families which ruled as political dynasties in India like the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and in USA, the Kennedy and the Bush dynasties, or even the British colonies," said Nikhil Moro, professor, Norfolk State University, Virginia, USA.

He addressed students of SBRR Mahajana First Grade College on 'Freedom of Information in India and US'. The professor, a native of Mysuru, said that, "On the same lines, we have the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 in the USA and the Right to Information Act of 2005 in India. Both of them assure citizens of transparency and provide the general public access to government documents," he said.

He said that, "Like India, the US has also battled its way against several laws which forbade press and citizens from acquiring information from the authorities. 'Rule by Divine', under which the church reigned the nation and 'Rule by Brutality' where the strongest was given the power to rule are gone."

In the year 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed by President Lyndon B Johnson and came into effect the following year. The Act allows for full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government, in exception to a few cases like national security matters, housekeeping practices and trade secrets similar to the RTI Act, 2005, Moro said.