A Regional Seminar on the Right to Infonnation in Orissa involving representatives of cross-sections of public from three districts, Anugul, Dhenkanal and Deogarh was held at the Truck Owners' Association Hall on 5th October, 2001 under the auspices of Nari Surakhya Samiti, a leading women's organization of the district. About 150 persons, among whom the overwhelming majority were poor working women in the rural areas took part in the proceedings of the one-day Seminar.
The Seminar with its selected topic was first of its kind to be held in the region, partaken of by people of various walks of life such as NGOs, lawyers, social activists, teachers, rural labourers and government officials.
The highlight of the Seminar was the address by the Collector, Angul, Sri Lakshmi Narayan Gupta, a young IAS officer, who in his brief but topical speech (mentioned in order) put forward not only his strong views in favor of the People's Right to Information , but also a well considered plan of action he has contemplated to introduce for necessary administrative reforms in his district for rendering the public access to information easy, quick and affordable.
The Seminar was presided over by Dr.(Ms.) Minakshi Panda, Lecturer Political Science, City Women's College, Cuttack.
Smt. Smitarani Patnaik, Secretary, Nari Surakshya Samiti
Smt.Patnaik, who is also the Vice-Chairperson of Chhendipada Panchayat Samiti explained, why she organized this Seminar. While organizing the people for any cause either in capacity of an NGO activist or in capacity of the Vice-Chairperson of the Panchayat Samiti, she realized that the greatest stumbling block to the people's development lay in the lack of their access to governmental information. So many schemes are being implemented for the rural people, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. But the target groups are not aware about them. No government official takes interest to make the people aware about all this either. So many applications are being made by the common villagers to avail the benefits under this or that scheme of the government. But there is no feedback from the Government as to what happened to a particular application. One has to literally break his head to get a scrap of information from a government office. As she knows, some States of India have already enacted the Right to Information for the people, as a result of which the common people have now started feeling confident about the possibility of their voice being heard by the government officials. There is no point why a similar legislation can't be implemented in the State of Orissa. The Seminar being held today is just the beginning of a long road that lies ahead for realizing the people's access to information.
Sri Chitta Behera, a Social Activist
He gave an introductory speech on the background of the right to information movement in India and in Orissa. He said that the British rulers had enacted the Official Secrets Act in 1923 to keep the Indians ignorant and alienated vis-a-vis the colonial administration. It is anachronistic that even after 54 years of independence, the same draconian act is in force. This act categorically defends an official's right to refuse to share any information how so ever insignificant, with any member of the public without showing any reasons whatever for such refusal. The decades of practice of this nefarious act have built a culture of secrecy not only in the administration but also among the people. This culture of secrecy is so much embedded into the psychic and social habit of the common people that even two persons do not share the information with each other on a Government run scheme. Every body thinks that the information he has with him is his personal asset, which he can't share with another freely and without any return. Such a culture of secrecy is utterly incompatible with democracy, which can succeed only in an atmosphere of transparency.
No doubt, sooner or later Orissa is going to have its right to information act as in other seven States of the country. But the moot point is, how to bring about a culture of transparency both in administration and people's behavior in place of the existing culture of secrecy. Describing the history of people's movement for right to information in the State of Rajasthan, Sri Behera opined that the Majdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, which led the movement there, was a movement from down below. In the process of this movement both Government and people got educated a lot about the need and value of transparency. The act came as a logical culmination of the villagers' movement for right to access the government records in the matter of expenditure of public money for the development works in their villages. So the real objectives of the act could be realized due to the new atmosphere already created by the mass movement for bringing about transparency in the administration at grass root level. Orissa being a poor and backward State, rapid development in various fields is a dire necessity here. Besides corruption in administrative circles is rampant in Orissa. Transparency being an antidote to corruption, the right to information is all the more necessary here. The cumbresome and time-consuming administrative procedures are also a great drag on the development of the country. The streamlining of administrative procedures with a view to ensure quick and single window disposal of the public grievances need be attempted along with right to information.
Citing the instance of USA where he had been to couple of times, Sri Behera observed that their administration is so citizen-friendly that an officer would like to dispose of a public grievance within a specific deadline, so that the concerned citizen would not have to run to several Government offices and that too, time and again in connexion with a single work, as it happens in our situation. In USA and other developed countries, the modem technology including computer and internet are being fully used to make the administration reach the people.
About the future course of action for the right to information movement in Orissa, Sri Behera said that the issue being a universal one involving the interest of each section of population, the movement need be a highly broad-based one eliciting the participation of all sections of people irrespective of party, ideology, community and religion.
Sri Dharani Dhar Nath, Project Director D.R.D.A. Anugul
At the outset, Sri Nath narrated a real story, which he had come across during his B.D.O. days. An old man used to visit the local Tahasil office every day just to get a copy of the entitlement record of his newly purchased plot of land. Year after year, he spent the whole of his day on the veranda of the Tahasil office in the hope of getting the record. One day he came to the Tahasil as usual but expired on the veranda before he could get the much sought after Patta. This instance shows how the poor and illiterate people are getting harassed in the matter of their access to simple information from the Government offices.
Sri Nath observed that this year is being observed as the year of women's empowerment. It is befitting that the women folk have come forward to demand the Right to Information in Anugul district. Sri Nath gave an account of how his office is promoting transparency before the people. His office is now implementing Swarna Jayanti Sworozgar Yojana by way of promoting self help groups for rural women and he has made it a point to make the necessary information about the Scheme reach to the people. He has further made the provision for the copy of every circular on development programmes to be made available to the Sarpanch of G.P.s from whom the common villagers can get a copy thereof Such transparency benefits the people and Government as well.
Sri Nath however deplored the fact that though the reservation of one-third of the members of Panchayat Sarniti has been made for women, the women members themselves do not assert their identity in the meetings and forums of the Panchayat Samiti. It has been frequently observed that not only the women members are invariably accompanied by their male relations but also their male relations speak for them in different fora and even take decisions for them. We can not achieve real empowerment of women if such practice of proxying goes on. The women folk need to learn to assert their identity and position for the roles they have assumed in public bodies, even if they falter and commit errors in the initial phase.
Sri LN. Gupta, Collector and District Magistrate Anugul
Sri Gupta said that he was present and involved in the organizing of the Conference of Chief Ministers held at Delhi way back in 1997, where the resolution for enactment of Right to Information at Centre and in States of the country along with other necessary administrative reforms for ensuring transparency in governance was being adopted. Recounting the ideological background to the movement for the Right of Information, Sri Gupta observed that, India being a democratic and welfarist State, the people have a right to know, how they are being governed by their elected representatives and the government officials. In such a polity, there is no place for so-called official secrecy, which has of course unfortunately dominated the administration of the country in the post- independence period as a legacy of the colonial rule. However there is a growing realization on the part of both political leadership and officialdom across the country that administration should be made more and more transparent, responsive and effective towards the people. The need for legislating a Right to Information is a part and parcel of this broad perspective of the move for democratizing the process of country's day-to-day governance.
In developed countries, every department of the government has provided for a citizens' charter, in which are mentioned the list of specific services to be rendered by the concerned department to the people. Such charter mentions the range and quality of services to be provided by a department to the citizens, failing which, the amount and nature of compensation to be given to the aggrieved clients. It is high time here in India that every Government department, be it telecommunications, electricity, or municipal services should make a bold presentation of its charter before the public in different ways, such as through the display boards to be placed in front of the concerned offices and through the available electronic and print media of mass communication including internet.
The Government at the Center had set up a Working Group under the Chairmanship of Sri H.D. Shouri in 1997 to evolve a national policy for transparency in the government administration and had recommended early enactment of Freedom of Information in Centre and States. In 1998, under the Chairmanship of Sri M.C. Jain, an Administrative Law Commission was formed which observed inter alia that out of nearly 2500 Acts, as many as 1300 have since long become obsolete, which need be removed. The same Commission had also recommended a single window system for disposal of public grievances.
Sri Gupta further informed that he, as the District Collector of Anugul, has already initiated the implementation of a package of administrative reforms in line with transparent, effective and responsive administration. Such a package shall be made available in the District Information and Facilitation Centre, which is going to be opened shortly. The proposed Centre shall have five counters, each catering to a well-specified list of services to the public.
All these measures are meant to bridge the gap between the Government and People. In a democracy the people need not run to the Government offices for any work they want. Rather the Government should reach the people in various ways to deliver the services that are meant for the citizens. Similarly the ways of governance should be such that the people won't have to run to Government offices just for getting bare information about a scheme or project. Concluding his observations the Collector Sri L.N.Gupta said, nearly 40% of our population being illiterate, the administration has to make necessary provisions for communicating with and addressing to their day-to-day issues and grievances.
Smt.Krishna Mohanty, Nav Jivan Mandal, Anugul
Smt. Mohanty, who is involved with several Gandhian and Sarvoday institutions welcomed the initiative taken by Nari Surakhya Samiti for promoting the movement for right to information in the State. Then she gave the instance of a poor man, who has already faced long harassment in the matter of just getting a BPL card. No official refuses to issue the said card, but they keep the matter just hanging, compelling the poor man to run to them time and again.
As she knows, the developed countries of the world have attained a high degree of transparency and openness in the administration, which India has to emulate in order to achieve further progress of the nation. The culture of secrecy, which is deep-rooted among the people should also be removed and then only the right to information can be fully realized.
Sri Swarajya Biswal, Public Prosecutor, State Administrative Tribunal, Orissa
Sri Biswal expressed his utmost happiness at the fact that the women folk have come forward in Anugul district to assert the people's Right to Information as evident from the overwhelming presence of the women participants in the Seminar. Perhaps this is the first of its kind in the State.
In the neighboring State of Madhya Pradesh, the Chief Minister Sri Digvijay Singh has introduced transparency in the administration at grass root level, for which he is popular there. As he has seen in his own eyes, everywhere in the Panchayats of MP, there is explicit display of the salient particulars of a Government Scheme or project already implemented or under progress, such as, how much money has been spent, number of beneficiaries, name of the Contractor, etc.
Here, in Orissa, even the Chairman of the Zilla Parishad is not informed about the particulars of a scheme or project implemented in his district. In one particular instance, he received a complaint from the Chairman of a Zilla Parishad, who was not given a copy of the Government circular on a development project in his district. The Collector's plea was that he was not obliged to divulge the official secrecy to the Chairman of Zilla Parishad, who is an elected representative but not a Government official.
Sri Biswal further deplored the fact that of all the States of India, Orissa has the highest number of Laws and Acts out of which majority are already made obsolete but still in force. The culture of secrecy in the administration at the grass root level has thrived so far owing to the well entrenched domination by the lobby of contractors in the local administration. The unscrupulous contractors bribe the officials to keep them under their thumb in such a way that even a well meaning Collector can not get his way through vis-a-vis the vested interests of the contractors.
It is further unfortunate that most of our development projects are based on foreign money, either loan or grants. If we misutilise such money by way of corruption or diversion, our country earns blemish before the international community besides remaining poor and backward. The corruption can be checkmated only if there is transparency in the execution of the projects and accountability of the officials before the public.
Sri Biswal further observed, may be Orissa shall legislate a Right to Information sooner or later, but mere enactment shall not make its benefits reach the people. The people themselves shall have to assert at every step their Right to Information before the Government officials, who as a matter of fact, are the servants of the public.
Sri Nadia Chand Kanungo, A Forest Officer ( Retd)
Sri Kanungo who was a forest officer in the undivided Dhenkanal district and therefore long acquainted with milieus of Anugul, first of all welcomed the efforts of Nari Surakshya Samiti for organizing a regional Seminar on right to information at Anugul, which is first of its kind in the State. As he knows, a prolonged mass movement for right to information in the State of Rajasthan under the leadership of a dedicated social activist Smt. Aruna Ray preceded the enactment of this right. Such a movement need be lunched in Orissa for getting this right enacted into law. He further observed that the law for right to information should contain strong penal provisions for the defaulter officials, who are willfully negligent in the matter of providing access to information to the people.
Sri Manas Jena, a social activist
The right to information is a political right, which can be properly realized if supplemented by the realization of the economic rights of the people. Just as democracy gets crippled by poverty, so also the people's legal right to information would remain unfulfilled in the absence of their resourcefulness to access and take advantage of the information available. Therefore alongside of the right to information, the movement for raising the standard of living and literacy of the people should continue.
Sri Prabir Mohanty, a litterateur
Sri Mohanty opined that the people should learn to demand information and then only they can get it. Mere legislation on the right to information can not ensure people's access to information on its own. At every stage the people have to fight for what they want to get.
Dr. Minakshi Panda. Lecturer Political Science
Dr. Panda who presided over the Seminar concluded by saying that the Seminar has been a successful one for the fruitful deliberations by various speakers coming from both Government and non-Government sectors. She hoped that the movement for right to information, which is launched in today's Seminar at Anugul, shall be further reinforced with organizing of similar events in other places of the State.
Smt. Snigdha Samantaray, NGO
Smt. Samantaray while offering a vote of thanks to the Chair, the speakers and participants of the Seminar observed that Nari Surakshya Samiti was highly grateful to the district administration not only for their whole-hearted support to the seminar but also for their forward-looking vision of streamlining the administration for making it transparent, effective and responsive. She hoped that similar support would be available from them for further campaign to make the right to information into a law in the State in days to come.
Summary