Many who request official information face harrassment and violence
NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - India’s transparency watchdog plans to safeguard the rights of people who seek official information that is in the public interest, after reports that many have met with harassment, violence and even death, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.
The Right to Information (RTI) Act - similar to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act - came into force almost six years ago, and aims to offer a practical way for all citizens to access information held by public authorities.
Social activists - who long campaigned for the act as a way of limiting corruption and nepotism rife in many government departments - say it has had a large impact in boosting transparency and helping people hold authorities to account. But there have been reports that those who seek information using it are under threat.
The newspaper said that, in 2010, 28 RTI activists were allegedly attacked after filing their applications, while others have been killed.
But with no government policy in place to protect them, the Central Information Commission (CIC) wants to introduce measures to ensure RTI applicants are not deterred by threats.
“If the information seeker is attacked, all the information will automatically be available in the public domain and the purpose of the attack to prevent information to be made public will be defeated," CIC’s Shailesh Gandhi was quoted as saying.
The CIC believes its decision will be emulated by information commissioners across India.
The report said the commission has also decided to seek information regarding police investigations into attacks on RTI activists in a bid to put pressure on them to act.
"In most cases, the RTI applicants are common people and do not have that sort of influence which the attackers may have," said Gandhi, who was an RTI activist in Mumbai before joining the commission three years ago.
It is estimated that hundreds of people are filing applications to the CIC every day.
The requests are vast and varied - from people wanting to know why the drains near their homes have not been cleared or roads not repaired, to why their income tax refund has not materialised or their water rates have been hiked.
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