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RTI-A Right to Good Governance
RTI act democratized the information and decentralized
the power. Power no more remains confined to
select few, rather it was made available equally
to all the citizens
“That Government Is Best Which Governs Least.” - Henry David Thoreau
Good
governance, in modern democracy, means democratization of governance. In participatory
democracy people elect their leaders to govern them. But governance is not the monopoly
of elected leaders. When governance becomes the privilege of select few or when
the people who are governed are kept out of the affairs of governance, it
degenerates into misgovernance and becomes a travesty of democracy.
Good
governance is characterized by transparency and accountability and the best way
to ensure transparency and accountability in governance is through increased
and informed participation of people. People are biggest stakeholder in
governance, they have a critical and crucial role to play. So, it is imperative
that people must have the right to know about the activities of the government.
In
2005, Indian Parliament passed Right to Information Act [RTI] which gave
the common citizen the right to seek information regarding government projects,
schemes and other activities. It was a landmark Act which came with the
potentiality to change the very idea of governance and the power equation between common people and the government. The act was promulgated
with the vision of democratization of governance and empowerment of common people
Therefore, Right to Information has been given the status of a fundamental
right under Article 19(1) of the Constitution.
