The Right to Information Act- Associated Challenges and Significance of the RTI Act

The Right to Information Act- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 2: Important aspects of governance– Citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

The Right to Information Act

• The Right to Information Act is a revolutionary Act that aims to promote transparency in government institutions in India.
• The Right to Information Act came into existence in 2005, after sustained efforts of anti-corruption activists.
• We have already discussed the key concept of-
  • Right to Information Act, historical background and its objectives,
  • Key Provisions of the RTI Act
  • Applicability of RTI Act and
  • Recent Amendments and Time Period for Providing Information
  • Exempted Entities and Information from RTI and Conflict with Non-Disclosure Legislations
• In this article, we are going to discuss various criticisms and the significance of the RTI Act.

The Right to Information Act- Associated Challenges

• Misuse for harassing public authorities: Many times, information is asked which is not in any public interest and can be misused to harass public authorities. For example-
  • Asking for desperate and voluminous information.
  • To attain publicity by filing RTI
  • RTI filed as a vindictive tool to harass or pressurize the public authority
• Lack of awareness: Poor Literacy and lack of awareness among the majority of the population in the country results in poor utilization of RTI for holding public authorities accountable and ensure public interests.
• Though RTI’s aim is not to create a grievance redressal mechanism, the notices from Information Commissions often spur the public authorities to redress grievances.

The Right to Information Act- Exempted Entities and Information from RTI and Conflict with Non-Disclosure Legislations

The Right to Information Act- Major Significance

• Empowers Citizen: to question the secrecy and abuse of power practiced in governance.
• Acts as ‘Public Good’: it is relevant to the interests of citizens and is a crucial pillar for the functioning of a transparent and vibrant democracy.
• The information obtained not only helps in making the government accountable but is also useful for other purposes which would serve the overall interests of the society.
• Information obtained under RTI may help in exposing corruption, human rights violations, and wrongdoings by the state.
• Reliable Instrument to Ensure Accountability: The access to information about policies, decisions, and actions of the government that affect the lives of citizens is an instrument to ensure accountability.

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