At the outset I am sorry to say that I have to leave this meeting shortly in order to attend another urgent meeting now going on in Shahid Bhavan, Cuttack.
On the basis of whatever I have gathered from the previous speakers, I understood that a discussion was probably going on as whether the Right to Information Act is desirable or not. But in my view, when the Bill on the Right to Information Act is already slated to be moved by the Government of Orissa in the Legislative Assembly, there is no point in discussing the desirability or otherwise of such a Bill. At the moment we should focus on the given contents of the Draft Bill and suggest in specific terms what we can insert, what we can delete or what more provisions we can introduce into it. Therefore I didn't bear in mind that we would be discussing here that the Bill was entirely defective or alternatively there were some advantages in the Bill.
There is no gainsaying of the fact that such type of Bill is absolutely necessary for our State. As I know, there are two sets of laws on freedom of information in U.S.A., one for the Federal Government and the other for the State Government, by which the citizens are allowed to access the Government held information.
It is very much heartening to note that the State Government of Orissa is going to enact the Bill on Right to Information Act. It would be extremely beneficial for the citizens, notwithstanding the fact that there would be some criticism of the Bill.
As you know, we are living in a society where everything is in a mess and there is chaos everywhere. I myself have experienced the discouraging response of public offices on a number of occasions. If you go to any public office, the first response you get from them is No. Their attitude is not see how your work could be done, but to say, how the Rule didn't permit it to be done. Whether the staff present in an office are clerk or officers, they would try together to say 'no' to you. Even when you go to a public office in search of an information, they would say that the rule didn't permit the information to be given to the public. In such a situation the Draft Bill on Orissa Right to Information Act, if enacted, would work as a restraint on those public servants who don't part with the information which is useful for the public to know. Thus such a Bill is absolutely essential for our State.
I had only an over-all glance at the Draft Bill and have not gone through it thoroughly. However, while appreciating the Bill on the whole, I recommend the following changes in the language of the Bill.
| a. | "Competent authority " meansany person or officer in authority and at the relevant time in possession or custody of the matter/matters of which information is sought for, , as notified by the Government/Organization from time to time for the purpose of this Act, x x x x x x x x x x x x x | |
| c. | "Information" means material or information from official record or documents of any kind relating to affairs of the state or any local body or other authorities constituted under an enactment passed by the Orissa Legislative Assembly for the time being in force or Statutory Authority or a Company, Corporation, Trust Firm, Society or a Cooperative society, or any Organization funded or controlled by the Government or executing any public work or service on behalf of as authorized by the Government (obligation on the part of private bodies/organizations to be limited to supply of information relating to utilization of public funds); x x x x x x x x x x x x x |
| a. | A person desirous of obtaining information shall make an application to the Competent Authority in writing in the prescribed form and on payment of the prescribed fee, the Competent Authority shall grant a receipt for the same specifying the nature of the request and the date on which the information can be supplied. x x x x x x x x x x x x x Provided further, that the access fee to be charged shall be decided by the Government and will be notified from time to time to cover the cost of photocopying of the requested information or the cost of the diskette or cassette, as the case may be. | |
| b. | Upon receipt of an application requesting for an information, the Competent Authority shall consider it and furnish the information required by the applicant or pass orders thereon refusing the request along with reasons of such refusal, as soon as practicable, and in any case, within thirty working days from the date of receipt of the application;if no information is furnished or an order of refusal is communicated to the applicant at his given address, it shall be presumed that the information has been withheld for no substantial reason and the person concerned shall be made answerable as per the provisions of the Act. x x x x x x x x x x x x x |
| a. | Information, the disclosure of the contents of which will prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India or security of the state or international relations or cause communal or caste disharmony or affect due administration of justice or investigation of any offence under law. x x x x x x x x x x x x x |
| a. | Any person aggrieved by an order of the Competent Authority or any person who has not received any order from the Competent Authority within thirty working days may appeal to the next higher authority to be notified by the Government; the list of such authorities to be displayed in public in the office concerned. x x x x x x x x x x x x x |
In case the provisions of any State Act are found to be inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, the provisions of this Act shall have an over-riding effect over the provision of the former Act, to the extant of such inconsistency.