RTI: People have the right to question govt, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stressed that Right to Information (RTI) should not hamper <g data-gr-id="55">governance</g> in fact, it’s aim must be to bring about a positive change in governance. He asked government departments to keep in mind three ‘T’s – timeliness, transparency and trouble-free approach – while replying to RTI applications as that would help in reducing errors in governance.

Addressing the 10th anniversary of Central Information Commission, Modi said more openness in governance will help citizens as there is no need for secrecy in this day and age. “RTI replies should be timely, transparency and trouble-free. It will help in reducing possibilities of errors,” he said at the function which was boycotted by leading RTI activists, including Aruna <g data-gr-id="42">Roy,</g> after authorities restricted the invitations to some activists citing security reasons. Apart from Roy, other activists who supported the boycott included Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bharadwaj, Amrita <g data-gr-id="29">Johry</g>, Venkatesh Nayak, Lokesh Batra and Shekhar Singh.

Modi said <g data-gr-id="38">right</g> to information is not only about the right to know but also the right to question as this will increase faith in democracy. “People should have a right to question the government. This is the foundation of democracy, this will increase faith in democracy. When matters go online, transparency increases automatically. Trust also increases,” he said. He said <g data-gr-id="33">aim</g> of the Right To Information Act is to bring about a positive change in governance.

Referring to the role played by the Right To Information Act in bringing positive changes in governance, the Prime Minister said the law can also help in reviewing government policies. Modi said his government’s initiative of Digital India, which will ensure that all administrative work is done online, is fully linked with the RTI initiative. “When matters go online, all issues become transparent and the key objective of RTI is to bring transparency in governance...Maximum online, maximum transparency. There is no need for maintaining secrecy in administrative work. Those days are gone,” he said.