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Opinion

Watered down RTI

The amendments proposed in the Data Protection Bill threaten to dilute the historic RTI Act and thereby, citizens' rights

Watered down RTI
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The passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005 was a historic moment. Finally, the common man could hold accountable any government department. A weapon in the hands of the 'aam aadmi' to gather almost any information related to the government and ensure, if needed, a fight against injustice, malpractice, or administrative corruption. The RTI was a gamechanger in the Indian democracy that has promised a transparency of governance. The recent amendments to the proposed Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill can change all that.

As of now, Indian citizens can access almost all information, save ten kinds as contained in Section 8 (1). The amendment proffered by the Data Protection Bill (point 30(2)) suggests that information related to a person may be declined. If this amendment comes into effect, then any information pertaining to government officers can be denied on the same grounds. Any such change will render the RTI into a toothless act and relegate it to mere words triggering zero action.

Removing individuals from its purview or even expanding the exemptions will only weaken the RTI Act. Section 8 (1)(j) states that "...information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information:

Provided that the information, which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature, shall not be denied to any person."

The Data Protection Bill after the amendment would read, "(2) Clause (j) of sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 shall be amended in the following manner: (a) The words 'the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information' shall be omitted;

b. The proviso shall be omitted."

Ask those who have sought to use the RTI Act, and they'll confirm that even with the current law, refusal of information under the exemptions was rife. Left to the information commissioner's discretion to decide if personal information about government officers can be released in public interest, experts say the section 8.1 (j) clause has been the most cited reason for refusing information. The widened caveat of "information which relates to personal information" would kick into effect a cycle of newfound red-tapism.

Why must we persuade against and protest the changes to the RTI Act? Because these are damning changes that threaten to dilute the power of this iconic legislation. Remember that in a democracy, any government serves at the pleasure of its people. We elect our government and allow them to put administrators in place. If we are not satisfied with the governance of any department, we should have the right to ask questions. But without proof of misgovernance, railing and ranting mean squat. No amount of venting on Twitter can bring about actual change. I refuse to believe that any government is completely corrupt. Our current government has gone to great lengths to end administrative corruption and the results show at many levels of the central and state governments. However, in a country like ours, corruption is unfortunately deeply-ingrained. To weed out systemic corruption and allow for continued good governance, the power must rest with the people. In order to guarantee that efficient, proactive, performing cogs keep turning in the government machinery and their efforts are not thwarted by the actions of a misguided few, the RTI Act must be allowed to stay untouched.

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal

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