Don’t tamper with RTI rules, activists warn DoPT

Brevity and Right to Information (RTI) applications do not go together.

RTI activists haven’t taken well to the suggestion of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) - the nodal body for implementing the Act in the country - to limit the number of words in queries to 250. There are heaps of information to be unearthed; one should be allowed to use as many words as it takes to do that, they say.

The department’s reasoning that brevity of the question would make for a swifter reply to queries and restrict meandering, as also check misuse of the Act has not won favour with those who use the Act to ensure greater transparency in governance.

Attempts to modify the Act will only serve to scuttle the whole right to information, said Anil Kumar, an RTI activist. He recalled how the DoPT tried to keep file notings from the common man’s eyes, even as the Act was being framed over five years ago.

“Bureaucrats and ministers were dead against notings being revealed. It was only because of vehement opposition from the citizens and Sonia Gandhi’s intervention that the department did not succeed,” he said.

The proposed changes in rules would also restrict the use of one application to one question. RTI applicants would also have to pay ‘the actual amount’ that the public authority may spend on hiring a machine or equipment to give out information.

Much of the credit for scams being exposed today goes to RTI. Needless to say, the Act has proved to be a thorn in the side of the powerful corrupt. The mining issue, the 2G scam, Commonwealth Games scam, land grabbing in the state— all of which could be made public through voluminous RTI queries.

“Queries relating to mega projects, say construction of a road from Delhi to Agra, would involve several questions. CWG is a big scam. Even there, one would have to get into many details to get the whole picture,” said Mathew Thomas, general secretary, Citizens’ Action Forum. If the proposal for a change in RTI rules goes through, people should flood departments with short applications, he suggested.  Activists also alleged that the proposal will go against those who might be either illiterates or semi-literates. As they battle bureaucracy, they will find that belligerent bureaucrats might find fresh reasons to reject applications on the basis of what is written.

The DoPT has invited comments from the public on the proposed changes. These comments have been invited over email at usrtidovt@nic.in by December 27. If the DoPT were truly interested in propagating the Act, it could publicise it widely, particularly in rural areas, the activists pointed out. In Karnataka, however, people have been filing applications with not more than 150 words. It has worked just fine, said activist Rabindranath Guru. “Often, people write long applications and seek solutions. RTI is not for solving problems. It is not a grievance redressal mechanism. Also, single applications contain questions to multiple departments. That should be curtailed,” Guru said.

The Information Commission has little to justify altering the rules. There are no statistics of misuse or abuse of the RTI Act. Guru suggests that a database relating to the abuse of the Act ought to be maintained. The selection of the information commissioner (IC) ought to be done with care, he said.

“The norm everywhere is to call for applications, and a committee selects the IC. In UP, a relative of Mayawati has been appointed the IC” he said. The public information officer (PIO) should be the deputy of the highest ranking officer in the department. In reality, however, the PIO is often a junior officer who cannot push seniors who do not respond to queries. “That should go. If the director is the appellate authority, the deputy director should be appointed PIO,” Kumar said.