My Musings

Thomas Jefferson, 3 rd President of USA(1801-09) and author of the Declaration of Independence says  “ A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine ”. A thought provoking statement with lot of depth to it. It just doesn’t talk of majority in the parliament but about all those wrong-doers who wish to grow their wealth at the expense of everyone else. Right to Information Act, was brought on the table and made a reality just to counter such elements of the society. RTI guarantees transparency of Information that is vital to its functioning and to contain corruption. In other words, it aids to hold governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed. We will try and understand more about the SCOPE of RTI, What information is accessible and what isn’t. SCOPE of RTI The following Governments, Organizations  and bodies are covered under RTI and are subject to it.   C...

No democracy is literally complete until people are given the participating power and imparted knowledge of the  day to day governance . India took one step in this direction on 15 th July 2005 when Right to Information Act was passed by the parliament which came into full force on 12th October 2005. Hitherto, Information disclosure in India was restricted by the  Official Secrets Act 1923  and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act now relaxes. The  Right to Information Act, 2005  ( RTI ) is a law enacted by the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens." The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India , except the State of Jammu and Kashmir - which is covered under a State-level law. Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen (excluding the citizens within J&K) may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or "instrumenta...