I was happy to participate in the Inaugural Session of the State Level
RTI Convention held at Rourkela on 24th September. It has been organised
by the Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhiyan ( Rourkela Chapter ) . The Chief
Speaker was Mrs. Aruna Roy. I shared the Podium with Mr. Sahdev Sahoo (
ex-Chief Secretary ) and Mr. Gopal Nanda ( ex-DGP), Dr. Akshay Samal
and Mr. Pradeep Pradhan. It was a great feeling to share some thoughts
with the RTI Activists. It was an impressive show by the organisers.
Thanks to the activists in and around Rourkela.
It is heartening to see that so many RTI Activiists are there to take forward the implementation of the RTI Act and share a collective vision envisaged by Mrs. Aruna Roy and her colleagues in the RTI Movement. There are many challenges but they have to be overcome. Mrs. Aruna Roy gave a call to work om one or two cross cutting issues in which all the activists across the country will be involved. We all agree that to sustain the Democracy in its true form in this country, one of the most non-violent and powerful tools have been the RTI Act.We all have to use it. We all have to defend that attack on the Act and those whistle-blowers who have been using the Act for a cause.
In my address I also suggested strategies which could make the whole process more broad-based. One thing which has not drawn much attention so far is the Section 4(1) (a), (b) of the RTI Act indicating Suo Motto and Proactive disclosure by the Public Authorities. All the activists are working like WHISTLE-BLOWERS and are in a confrontation mood with the administration. It is inevitable that barring a few in the administration, most of the authorities stonewall the process of providing information. The activists have to run from pillars to posts to seek and get quality information. They run to the Information Commission but perhaps do not get an immediate hearing. In Kashipur, ordinary people file RTI Applications and they have to run 20 times from far away places to the Government Offices and get frustrated. The Officials also often mock these Information Seekers. Thus, Confrontation becomes inevitable. This approach is valid to some extent but will not take the RTI Activists very far.
Under Suo Motto Disclosure, the Public Authorities are bound to share information in public domain. A close look at section 4(1) and the provisions indicate that information has to be shared at all levels. The ordinary citizens must be given all the required and relevant information by these Public Authorities about numerous Schemes and Programmes, Acts and Policies, and the proposed Acts and Policies. The sharing information in the Internet is not enough. It should be available to the people at door step. The RI Act should not be confined to the Civil Societies but to one and all including the Government, Corporate, NGOs , Media and Political Parties etc. who are termed as Public Authorities. This requires a Collaborative Framework and an act of moral persuasion notwithstanding the legal provisions. We the Civil Society Activists have to have greater interface with the Public Authorities so that there would be more sharing of information.
We do need the support of retired Govt. officials in the RTI Fora but we also need the serving officers. Imagine the impact, if in the inaugural function, the current Chief Secretary and the DGP are sharing the Podium and are addressing the RTI Activists. That would have made much more sense and would have given the right kind of message.
To make the RTI movement in Odisha a success , to my mind, both the strategies - Confrontation and Collaboration - have to be institutionalised. I am sure Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhiyan will take note of my suggestions.
It is heartening to see that so many RTI Activiists are there to take forward the implementation of the RTI Act and share a collective vision envisaged by Mrs. Aruna Roy and her colleagues in the RTI Movement. There are many challenges but they have to be overcome. Mrs. Aruna Roy gave a call to work om one or two cross cutting issues in which all the activists across the country will be involved. We all agree that to sustain the Democracy in its true form in this country, one of the most non-violent and powerful tools have been the RTI Act.We all have to use it. We all have to defend that attack on the Act and those whistle-blowers who have been using the Act for a cause.
In my address I also suggested strategies which could make the whole process more broad-based. One thing which has not drawn much attention so far is the Section 4(1) (a), (b) of the RTI Act indicating Suo Motto and Proactive disclosure by the Public Authorities. All the activists are working like WHISTLE-BLOWERS and are in a confrontation mood with the administration. It is inevitable that barring a few in the administration, most of the authorities stonewall the process of providing information. The activists have to run from pillars to posts to seek and get quality information. They run to the Information Commission but perhaps do not get an immediate hearing. In Kashipur, ordinary people file RTI Applications and they have to run 20 times from far away places to the Government Offices and get frustrated. The Officials also often mock these Information Seekers. Thus, Confrontation becomes inevitable. This approach is valid to some extent but will not take the RTI Activists very far.
Under Suo Motto Disclosure, the Public Authorities are bound to share information in public domain. A close look at section 4(1) and the provisions indicate that information has to be shared at all levels. The ordinary citizens must be given all the required and relevant information by these Public Authorities about numerous Schemes and Programmes, Acts and Policies, and the proposed Acts and Policies. The sharing information in the Internet is not enough. It should be available to the people at door step. The RI Act should not be confined to the Civil Societies but to one and all including the Government, Corporate, NGOs , Media and Political Parties etc. who are termed as Public Authorities. This requires a Collaborative Framework and an act of moral persuasion notwithstanding the legal provisions. We the Civil Society Activists have to have greater interface with the Public Authorities so that there would be more sharing of information.
We do need the support of retired Govt. officials in the RTI Fora but we also need the serving officers. Imagine the impact, if in the inaugural function, the current Chief Secretary and the DGP are sharing the Podium and are addressing the RTI Activists. That would have made much more sense and would have given the right kind of message.
To make the RTI movement in Odisha a success , to my mind, both the strategies - Confrontation and Collaboration - have to be institutionalised. I am sure Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhiyan will take note of my suggestions.
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