Bureaucrats stifle transparency law

Whenever questions arise on the central government’s sincerity in curbing corruption, it reels off a fixed set of replies. One of these is that the anti-bribery law is in place and the Right to Information has ensured transparency. The government also reasons that since the Prevention of Corruption Act is a deterrent, there’s no need for it to give formal assent to the global anti-corruption charter signed a decade ago.

In reality, the anti-corruption law is hardly of any help in sending the big offenders to jail. What it has done so far is crack down on the lowly-paid minions who acted as touts for their bosses.

The right to information law is not to the liking of the political and executive arms of the government. So much so that even the Supreme Court has questioned the Central Information Commission’s order directing its registrar to inform an applicant whether judges had disclosed the details of their assets to the Chief Justice of India. In the states, governments have found ways to get around the RTI. But bureaucrats have gone a step further. Some, who were slapped with penalties by the CIC, have challenged such orders in courts. This has angered the CIC and the organisation’s chief, Wajahat Habibullah, will apprise the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of the matter.

 Between 2005 and 2008, the Commission fined 211 officials. Under section 20 of the RTI Act, the CIC can impose a penalty of Rs250 per day, not exceeding Rs 25,000 on public information officers till the information to be given is delayed beyond the stipulated date. A CIC report said that politicians are ‘comfortable’ working with IAS officers which is why the IAS are predominant in the State Information Commission.  

The overrepresentation of bureaucracy is hampering functioning of the information watchdog since bureaucrats are giving public Information officers ample opportunities to correct their mistakes.

And public information officers are showing that they don’t give two hoots for people who are desperate for vital information.