DailyMirror
An Indian social activist, Arvind Kejriwal, yesterday said that the right to information is the key to the existence of democracy and that it can only be attained if people collectively raise their voices and demand for their fundamental right to information.
Kejriwal said this while addressing a group of media personnel during a visit to Sri Lanka. The activist, who is a winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership and has campaigned extensively for the rights of the people, said that the best way to ensure that each citizen is given a voice is to introduce a Right to Information (RTI) Act. He said this will also curb corruption to a great extent.
“In India we did not have the act until it was passed in Parliament in 2005. It has not ceased corruption altogether, but it has changed the attitude of the Indian Government with regard to the people’s right to information. As a result, the level of transparency in India is very high now and corruption is relatively less,” he said.
Kejriwal opined that Sri Lanka too should adopt an Act of this nature so as to curb the instability that exists in terms of the level of corruption in the country. “Since a Presidential election is around the corner, now would be the time to make a demand from the Government for a Right to Information Act that will protect the rights of all individuals,” he stressed. He said that if the Sri Lankan people demand it, no authority can stand against it. He said that we must have adequate access to knowledge especially during an election. “We must be able to ask ourselves how much do we know about this politician or his political party as we have a right to know just how much money is being spent on our behalf,” he explained. “Sri Lankan politicians must know that it makes eminent political sense to have an RTI act,” he stressed.
“Citizens are not an institution, they represent the country. If you are a law-abiding citizen and you pay taxes, then you should be given priority and must be allowed to practice your fundamental rights,” he said. “Since the introduction of the RTI Act in India, anyone, irrespective of their income status, sex or social standing or even age has the right to file an RTI application for which they will get a reply in a month. The Government has to respond and provide whatever information is asked for or they will face a penalty of up to Rs.25, 000,” he said. He said that no Government officer in India can question the request for a RTI as it is against the law.
As an example, Kejriwal mentioned an instance where a young girl was dissatisfied with the low standard of education at her brother’s school and had filed a RTI application to get more information on the system of education used in her brother’s school. “She did this as she had heard that the teachers don’t start their lessons at the allocated times and as a result not much gets done. This young girl wanted find out what was exactly going on within this institution,” he said. Kejriwal explained that the schools are open from 11am to 1 pm. However the young girl insisted on visiting the school at 4pm at which time the teachers and students were all present in the classroom to provide her with all the necessary information that she wanted. “This is because of the RTI application that she had filed against the school. The RTI Act is taken so seriously that even school teachers have to listen to this little girl’s request,” he said.
Giving yet another example, he explained that a poor labourer had once lost his ration card and therefore had applied for a new one. “It normally takes 10 days to obtain a ration card. However, this labourer had not received his ration card even three months later,” he said. Kejriwal explained that this poor labourer subsequently filed an RTI application. “A few days later the relevant authorities called him over for a cup of tea, gave him his ration card and asked him to kindly withdraw his RTI application. In this situation the poor labourer immediately became a king because he had the law on his side. That is what we need and that is what any democracy should strive for,” he said.