Interview with Arvind Kejriwal: No democracy without right to information
Arvind Kejriwal is one of India’s foremost champions of the Right to Information. Awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006, Arvind has won a number of awards for his pioneering work in India. As noted on the Ashoka Foundation site,
Arvind uses a 2001 law called the Right to Information Act (RTIA) to bring political power back to the people of India. The law began in Delhi, and has since spread to eight other states, opening opportunities for citizens to hold their governments accountable to high standards of transparency and integrity. Through his organization Parivartan, Arvind raises awareness of the Act and trains citizen groups to use the law to check corruption. He leverages a growing volume of success stories to demonstrate that direct engagement in local government can make a real difference in people’s lives.
It is this last point, of story-telling, that comes out clearly in this interview. Arvind does not rely on hard statistics or cold reports. He highlights the need for and benefits accrued from right to information legislation through simple stories that are funny, moving and compelling. These stories resonate far beyond India’s borders. In this interview, I ask Arvind for ideas on how to bring about right to information legislation in Sri Lanka, which during war completely off the radar of the Rajapaksa regime.
And while it was reported in the Sunday Times that a new draft freedom of information act will be presented to the President, the prima facie description of it suggests that it will egregiously fall short of international standards and perversely, instead of meaningfully empowering citizens, give government even more control over the information released to the public. It is also likely that the new act does not incorporate the concerns of the Editors Guild over the draft freedom of information act in 2001.
Arvind’s experience, submissions for the enactment of a meaningful right to information law and the empowerment of citizens to use it to hold government accountable, is particularly resonant in this context.
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I agree that the high-level description of the draft information act in the Sunday Times doesn’t inspire any confidence that any resulting law will be effective. I also note that the Justice Ministry have not chosen to make the draft of this act available on their website.
It is also hard to see how this law will work in practice since it seems the independent agency responsible for its oversight, the Freedom of Information Commission, depends on the establishment of the Constitutional Council – which the current government have shown no interest in doing!
Arvind Kejriwal’s interview highlights the wonderful societal benefits that accrue from a Right to Information act. However, he also raises the crucial point that this can only happen if the is a overwhelming demand for it from all sections of society. I wonder if this is the case in Sri Lanka?
Efforts initiated and being inititaed by Shri Arvind are commendable. Revision or amendments in RTIA will crush the very motive of the Act which has created bit terror iif not fully n the minds of those who adopt illegal means to satisfy their ego and wishes. Amendments if initiated should be be part more power to citizens than to machinery implementingthe system.
Timely topic, excellent information exposed by Mr Arvind to people and politicians on right to information. Useful info for people to eradicate beaurcracy & bribery.
How do you exercise your vote? How people know to whom they have to vote during an election without knowing what they have done, what they do, what they will do? Transparency of governance protected by right to information. Great!
Politicians are Servants of people? In Sri Lanka, other way around. People are servents of politicians. People have to jump out of roads in to drains when politcos are on the road with highspeed security escort!! Many people died. When people vist local authorities, ministeries and parliament they hardly look at your face, but during elections they come to peoples doorstep begging votes.
Democracy can not exist without right to information!
Fine civil servants Rs 250 in Sri Lanka too, if documents get delay.
The following article in the Christian Science Monitor gives a preview of what is likely to happen in Sri Lanka if an RTI act is implemented without also giving attention to the de-politicisation of the police force.
In India, deadly backlash against freedom of information activists
Activists in India have been hospitalized or even killed as they tap the 2005 freedom of information act to expose government corruption – http://bit.ly/aFV4XE – (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0310/In-India-deadly-backlash-against-freedom-of-information-activists)
Any law aimed at making those in government accountable for their actions also needs to ensure that politicians and civil servants are not above the law!
In India, deadly backlash against freedom of information activists – http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0310/In-India-deadly-backlash-against-freedom-of-information-activists
Quite inspirational thinking behind RTIA. But as pointed out it also needs real democracy, rule of law and justice to make it work for the citizen it to be effective. In their absence it is a no-brainer.