Information, at last

The Right to Information Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, is one of the few measures of social significance carried through in the UPA government's one year in office. That it has been passed without the participation of the main opposition alliance in the House proceedings is besides the point.

Essentially, the Bill seeks to carry forward the process of empowering citizens to keep a tab over the functioning of the government departments""a process that was set in motion by the Freedom of Information law enacted by the previous NDA government. The present Bill makes the citizen's right to information a basic one under Article 19 of the Constitution.

As such, its provisions are relatively far-reaching and more elaborate than the statute it is slated to replace. It provides for setting up a Central Information Commission with its associated elements to ensure its proper enforcement.

Anybody will be free to seek any type of information (barring that concerning intelligence and security organisations) without specifying reasons for doing so. It also provides a time frame for providing that information and the penalty to be paid by the public official for failure to suitably respond within the deadline.

What is more significant is the definition of the term "information", which has been made very inclusive, encompassing any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mail, opinions, archives, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, samples, models, and material held in electronic form.

Equally significant is the provision for unveiling information regarding alleged or ongoing corruption cases, for which even the intelligence and security agencies have been given no special protection.

However, no law is perfect. And this one is no exception. The fact that an unprecedented 150 amendments were made to the Bill before its adoption is indication enough of the extent to which the original provisions have been diluted or deleted.

For one, the provision for participation of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the process of appointment of chief information commissioner and other information commissioners has been done away with. The CJI's place in the selection committee has been given to a cabinet minister of the Prime Minister's choice, putting a question mark on the objectivity of the appointment procedure.

This apart, the Bill is unclear about the jurisdiction of the central and state information commissions. A citizen denied information by a local official of the central ministry or department would, thus, be at a loss to know whether to knock on the doors of the Central Commission or of the state commission.

However, in spite of these lacunae, the right to information is a welcome move. What is needed on the part of the government is to ensure that the provisions of the Bill are implemented not only in letter but also in spirit. Otherwise, the common man will continue to be taken for a ride by a bureaucracy known for its penchant for secrecy.