Need for critical look at RTI Act: Manmohan/It should not hit deliberative processes and thwart honest officials from airing views(14/10/11)

Need for critical look at RTI Act: Manmohan/(I WISH WE'LL NEED TO HAVE GUTS AND COURAGE TO FOLLOW MAHATMA GANDHIJI'S FOOTSTEP OF SPEAKING THE TRUTH(I TRY TO DO IT 100%,BUT IS SUCCESSFUL 98%TILL NOW...HOPEFUL TO SPEAK 100% IN TODAY ONWARDS),BUT AT THE SAME TIME WE SHOULDN'T HAVE MENTALITY TO FILE RTI FOR FRIVILOUS INFORMATIONS LIKE,"WHO HAD FALL IN TOILETS LEADING TO BROKEN LEG/BROKEN SPINES...WHO EATS SWISS CHOCOLATES,OR IS DIABETIC OR ALCHOHOLIC??....BUT THEN IF ANY OFFICIAL IS TAKING "SUCH GIFTS" AS BRIBERY FOR WORK DONE, THEN DEFINITLY HE/SHE NEED PUNISHMENTS.PERSONALLY I FEEL THIS "GIVE AND TAKE" OF GIFTS IN OFFICES (GOVERNMENT/PSU'S/ OR PRIVATE)..NEED TO BE STRICTLY STOPED/PROHOBITED)...IF OFFICES WANT TO GIVE SOME FESTIVAL BONUS TO THEIR EMPLOYEES,AS RIGHT NOW DIWALI IS COMING...THEY SHOULD GIVE IN CHEQUE,WHICH SHOULD DIRECTLY GO IN EMPLOYEES ACCOUNT AS A WHITE MONEY,AND NOT AS CASH IN ANY ENVOLOPE!!BUT THEN THERE ARE CERTAIN IMPORTANT SPECIALLY DEFENCE AND SECURITY RELATED ISSUES AND HALF-BAKED ISSUES NEED TO BE KEPT SECRET TILL APPROPRIATE TIME...RTI HAS SOME PROVISIONS ABOUT FEW SUCH ISSUES!!BUT IT NEED NOT GET SCRAPED OR DILUTED!!....VT)

Karnataka State RTI Activists Forum members staging a protest in Bangalore. Demands for amending the RTI Act from various sections galore, for completely different reasons.

The Hindu Karnataka State RTI Activists Forum members staging a protest in Bangalore. Demands for amending the RTI Act from various sections galore, for completely different reasons.

It should not hit deliberative processes and thwart honest officials from airing views

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for a ‘critical look' at the Right to Information (RTI) Act to ensure that it does not adversely affect the ‘deliberative processes' of the government and discourage honest officials from articulating their views.

Addressing the 6th Annual Convention of Information Commissioners here on Friday, Dr. Singh hoped that the deliberations would also focus on the responsibility of the private sector in dissemination of information, particularly in the context of a growing number of projects in the Private Partnership mode.

Dr. Singh's desire for a close re-look at the Act has come at a juncture when his government is faced with charges of scams and corruption and sections of the Opposition have voiced apprehensions that the government was attempting to dilute the law to save itself further embarrassment.

The recent instance of the office memorandum of the Finance Ministry to the Prime Minister's Office on the 2G scam, being made public through an RTI petition, best illustrates the point. The memorandum suggested that had then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram ‘stuck to his guns,' the 2G swindle could have been averted. It not only plunged the government into a crisis but triggered a fierce debate within the establishment on whether it was necessary for the PMO to have released the document through the RTI route.

To allay any apprehensions that his call for a holistic assessment of the implementation of the Act was an endeavour by the government to suppress flow of information, Dr. Singh said his government stood committed to a comprehensive agenda of legal, executive and technology initiatives to curb corruption and improve governance.

Emphasising that his regime considered the Act to be a powerful tool, Dr. Singh flagged three specific issues for consideration — whether the exemption clauses in the Act had served the public interest, whether a change was needed and whether a mechanism was required to deal with vexatious demands for information.

On concerns about the Act impeding governance and deterring honest officials from airing frank views, Dr. Singh argued that a point of view brought under public scrutiny and discussion in an isolated manner may sometimes present a distorted or incomplete picture of what really happened in the processes of making the final decisions.

Dr. Singh referred to the pending bill for protection of whistle-blowers and said that it would further strengthen the RTI Act. “We expect this law to be enacted in the next few months and it would, among other things, help in prevention of violence against those who seek to expose wrongdoings in our public administration.”

He noted that the conference was being held against the backdrop of a vigorous debate on the issues of corruption and governance. “The Act does have provisions to deal with privacy issues but there are certain grey areas that require further debate.”