---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Venkatappa Kumaraswamy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Jul 22, 2006 1:55 PM To: His Excellency President of India Dr. APJ Kalam,
His Excellency President of India Dr. APJ Kalam, His Excellency, The Cabinet (Government of India) has approved the proposed amendment in the Right to Information Act, 2005 in the name of ambiguity in the law and to put the 'File Notings' and 'How a decisions were arrived' out of the preview of the RTI Act, in spite of the fact that law in clear terms defined the exemptions from disclosures which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders, endanger the life or physical safety or any person or would identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes, to balance the rights of liberty as against the duty to protect the security of State, public order, decency or morality or incitement to an offence which are protected under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India. Hon'ble Chief Justice of India Mr. Y. K. Sabharwal pointed out that "the 'Public Accountability' is a facet of administrative efficiency. Publicity of information serves as an instrument for the oversight of citizens. By the same token it suggests that law could become a means for fighting corruption. Therefore, a Government which produces a trustworthy flow of information creates greater certainty and transparency. This is especially appreciated by those who intend to invest in the Country. International experience shows that countries that allow citizens access to public information have seen a reduction in indicators of corruption and, consequently, substantial increases in administrative efficiency. 'Public Accountability' is a part of governance. It is the Government that is accountable to the public for delivering a broad set of outcomes but more importantly it is the public service consisting of public servants that constitutes the delivery mechanism. Therefore, the accountability and governance arrangements between Government which acts as the principal and the public service which is its agent, impact on the Government's ability to deliver and on its accountability to the public. The challenge lies in ensuring that the public service is geared to meet the expectations of the Government of the day and that public service is neutral, whichever party is in power. When a Government department translates a Government's policy into programmes, the success of that translation is very much dependent on a clear understanding of and commitment to the outcomes that are sought. It is not surprising that the history of accountability and governance within the public service has shifted from measuring "inputs" to measuring "outputs", to matching outputs, and identify outcomes. The key which weakens accountability or the effectiveness of the Government or the public sector is the lack of information." Government should admit that the 'File Notings' and 'How a decisions were arrived' are important part of the Information which need to be disclosed to the governed. The decision of the Government to amend the law is result of strong lobbying from the Politicians and Bureaucrats, who feels uneasiness under fear for the disclosure of their way of working at the cost of larger public Interests and to weaken the accountability or the effectiveness of the Government or the public sector. The decision is dead against the fundamental right flowing from Art. 19(1)(a) of the Constitution to know about Administrative Efficiency, Public Accountability and Constitutional Governance in democratic India which requires an informed citizenry and transparence in information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed. Therefore, this is humble request to His Excellency to sent a message to the Government to withdraw its aforesaid decision in favour of amendment in RTI Act, 2005. The decision of the Government to amend the RTI Act, 2005 is undemocratic and unconstitutional. Therefore Your Excellency the Guardian of the Constitution as well as the Fundamental Rights of the Citizens should act promptly to restrain the Government from any further move to curtail the fundamental rights of the governed. Milap Choraria National Convenor Movement for Accountability to Public (MAP) B-5/52, Sector-7, Rohini, Delhi-110085 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sincerely, The UndersignedProtect efficacy of the fundamental right to know : http://www.PetitionOnline.com/rti2005/petition.html Please do not remove the note file from the purview of the RTI. The RTI would be a dead instrument without the note file coming under its ambit. The common man would not be empowered if the note file is kept out of the purview of the RTI. It is as good as killing the spirit of and spirit behind the RTI ! noting is an adjunct to the file extending transparency to notings could actually give cover to an official note file should not be exempted from RTI Act 2005 IT'S OUR RIGHT. An inalienable right has been conferred on citizens. `Right to Information Act will empower common people' The legislative intent is clear; we are entitled to know how our money is spent. The onus is on us to make the Act work. In effect, therefore, the right conferred on the citizen is an exhaustive one. It allows him to assess and examine every government decision, to study the reasons recorded by the government for taking a particular step, and to utilise information so gathered to ensure that government acts in a transparent and just manner. Indeed, the preamble to the Act puts it well when it says, "democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information" and adds these "are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed". An act disabling an Act - ARUNA ROY http://right2information.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/an-act-disabling-an-act-aruna-roy/ Amendment to take life out of RTI Act: CIC http://right2information.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/amendment-to-take-life-out-of-rti-act-cic/ NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO INFORMATION - PRESS NOTE http://right2information.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/national-campaign-for-peoples-right-to-information-press-note/ RTI amendment will lead to denial of information: PHDCCI http://right2information.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/rti-amendment-will-lead-to-denial-of-information-phdcci/ Sonia unhappy with blow to RTI? http://right2information.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/sonia-unhappy-with-blow-to-rti/ Government gives in to babus, takes life out of RTI law http://right2information.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/government-gives-in-to-babus-takes-life-out-of-rti-law/ Anivar Aravind http://movingrepublic.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
