In the morning session, two judges gave their opinion. One judge gave his opinion in a strong manner, which led to some commotion among the participants. Perhaps there was a communication gap between what he intended to say and what we understood of him.
As you know, in 6 States of the country, th RTI Act is already in force. In Madhya Pradesh it is implemented through administrative orders.
As clarified by the official from the Public Relations Department, Orissa the present document called Draft Bill on Orissa Right to Information Act 2002 is not the Draft Bill proper, but a Working Paper only, circulated for the purpose of discussion. It is a very welcome move on the part of our State Government. that they invite public opinions about a law before it is made.
To me, in comparison to the Acts of Rajasthan, Goa or other States, the Orissa Draft Bill contains some extra provisions in respect of citizens' rights, for which it can be described as is a more progressive document that its counterparts in other States.
As regards the prospects for implementation of the proposed law, let me tell you first that the number of laws existing in our country is proportionate to poverty. In India there are more than 25,000 laws Every state has on average of seven hundred to eight hundred laws. But Orissa, the poorest State of all, has about 1300 laws, the highest figure in the country. And the whole country knows how we in Orissa implement the laws. I myself being a lawyer had to pay bribe to some officials for getting a no-encumbrance certificate, which was required in connection with a loan application.
However, if there would be transparency in the conduct of official businesses, much of corruption and malpractices shall go. We won't have to depend upon a Vigilance Commission or a CBI to keep watch on this or that malpractice every time. The people can set right the corrupt and fraudulent executives on their own, if the governance takes place with their knowledge.
From this point of view, the present Bill is no doubt a progressive step towards developing a vibrant democracy in our State.
Now let me give a few suggestions on the Draft Bill.
The Clause-2 of the Draft Bill mentions Co-operative Society, but does not mention another category of Cooperatives, i.e. Self-help Co-operative, which now is also a legal entity following the recent passing of Orissa Co-operative Act. Both types of Cooperative should be included under the purview of the Draft Bill.
When the Draft Bill talks of Association, the term should include Non-Govt. Organisations and Educational Institutions. While the reason for inclusion of NGOs is obvious, let me tell something about the educational institutions. In some parts of the country including Orissa, some educational institutions are running on the lines of profit making industries. So the people need to know about how they collect funds and utilize them.
There should be a definition of 'public work', the expression used in the Draft Bill. Otherwise the people shall find it difficult to access information from a provate organization, which might be executing a 'public work'.
The Draft Bill talks of the organizations 'funded' by the Government. We should add 'directly or indirectly'. Since there are organizations who don't receive funds directly from the Government, but receive the Government funds from another Organisation which receives it directly Any organisation funded directly or indirectly by the Government should be included under the category of Competent Authorities.
In respect of charging the fees, the distinction between commercial and personal use of information is unnecessary. Otherwise we would induce the common man to practise lies. Moreover, there is no method to check whether a man uses the information received, for personal or commercial purposes.
In Clause 5 ( e) of the Draft Bill, the restriction is imposed on 'Information whose disclosure would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or protection of public security'. In my opinion, it is a dangerous clause, since any public officer might take shelter under the pretext that the disclosure of a particular information would endanger his own life and liberty. So this Sub-Clause should be deleted.
In sum I would like to say that there can be endless efforts to improve the contents of the Draft Bill on Orissa Right to Information Act. But in the process more time is likely to be killed away. So let the R.T.I. Act be passed as soon as possible, and Orissa be the 7th State in the country to have such a legislation.