A few minutes back, my friend Mr. Praharaj (Mr. M.M. Praharaj, I.G. Orissa Police) told in a conversation with me that Right to Information, even if enacted into a law, can't materialize in true sense of term in view of the existing adverse conditions of society like so many other well-meaning legislations made in the past. While I fully agree with him in regard to other laws, I would however plead for enactment of a law on Right to Information, since this is a law with difference.

Now let me quote Section 11 of Orissa Government Servants' Conduct Rules 1959, which says "Unauthorized Communication of Information - No government servant shall except in a accordance with any general or special order of the government or in the performance in good faith of the duties assigned to him, communicate directly or indirectly any official document or information to any government servant or any other person to whom he is not authorized to communicate such document or information." It shows how the Conduct Rules bind the Government Servants to a culture of secrecy.

Moreover, there is the Official Secrets Act 1993, which holds the communication of official document as a criminal offence on the part of both Government Servant and citizen.

In such a situation, when a person approaches any public office for any official information, howsoever urgent it may be, the retort he receives at first instance is, "Who are you, and why should we give you any information?". In the face of such a discouraging and negative attitude on the part of the public servants, an ordinary citizen is returns disappointed and would never like to approach the same office again.

The enactment of a Right to Information law shall empower the citizen at least with the legal strength to say, "Yes, I have a right to information, which you as a public servant are legally bound to give".

Again coming back to the Section 11 of the Conduct Rules, as you know, the government servants are otherwise called public servants. If somebody is a servant of the public, how can he deny information to the members of the public, who are his masters in a democracy? The Central Government Servants Conduct Rules do also have a similar provision prohibiting communication of the official documents to the citizens. In my view, the above conduct rules framed in post-independence period are consistent with the democratic principles of governance and need therefore be amended without any delay.

As a matter of fact, these conduct rules have been copied from the rules made by the British who were alien rulers, and it is also understandable, why they had introduced Official Secrets Act or above Conduct Rules for Government Servants. But how is it that all ruling parties have hitherto maintained these Acts and Rules in tact, even after 55 years of independence? It shows that all political parties, who came to power in the post independent period, had a vested interest in maintaining a regime of secrecy, erected and perfected by the British. Like the British, they also wanted to rule over the Indian people with the help of a pliant but anti-people bureaucracy.

From this prospective, the Right to Information Act shall provide the first legal break with the tradition of secrecy. However, it is true at the same time that, unless there is a complete overhaul of the existing legal-administrative framework that includes inter alia the abolition of obscurantist laws like Official Secret Act and amendment to the other Acts and Rules necessary for introducing a system of open, accountable and responsive governance.

As a matter of fact, Right to Information has already been provided in the Panchayati Raj system in Orissa albeit through departmental orders. As per the concerned circulars issued in 1997 and 1999, provision is there for any person to get required information within 7 days of his application from any office of District Administration/Zilla Parishad and downwards to Gram Panchayat level on payment of Rs.2/- per page. But the question arises, how many people, including even Sarpanch, Ward Members, etc. know about this circular, let alone avail the provision. So it is not enough that a law or a rule is made for the people. Unless and until the common people are involved in debating the provisions of a proposed law in course of the process for legislating it, the law or rule so made shall be of little consequence.

The need for making a Right to Information law in the State of Orissa is uppermost, since there is acute poverty and all-round underdevelopment. And the cause of such poverty and underdevelopment is rampant corruption. As Sri N.Vittal, Chairman of the Central Vigilance Commission has said, " Like sunshine is the best detergent, transparency is the best antidote to corruption". If the tender papers submitted by different contractors become transparent, there shall be little room for manipulation in the selection of the contractors and also in the construction works undertaken thereafter.

Very recently it was reported in the newspapers that a part of money that came to our State on the head of Prime Minister Sadak Yojana was returned to the Centre since it could not be fully utilized. It is really painful that while we are lacking in roads, the money that was meant for constructing rural roads, remained unutilized and got reverted to the Centre. Were the people to know about the money so available, it would have been fully utilized for the purpose. So with the people's access to information, the process of development shall be smoother and faster too.

The Right to Information shall also lead to greater accountability on the part of the civil servants. Very recently, a news hit the headline of all newspapers in Orissa that, except only 5 Departments of the State Government, other Departments didn't submit their plan estimates for the year 2002-2003 to be further transmitted to the Planning Commission, New Delhi. In spite of several reminders from above, the Secretaries of different Departments didn't comply with this routine and requisite duty. Such a failure on the part of the top-ranking civil servants of the State should not be taken lightly, since based upon their plan estimates, Orissa would receive the financial allotment for the new financial year. If the people were to know about the mechanism of financial transactions between the Centre and State, they might have exercised their pressures on the concerned civil servants to get the plan estimates done in time.

Under the circumstances, there is an imperative need for legislating an appropriate kind of Right to Information Act in the State of Orissa, and to have an appropriate kind of RTI law, it is essential that the common people should be involved in a State-wide debate on what should be the provisions of the proposed RTI law and what other legal and administrative reforms are necessary for ushering in of an open, transparent and accountable system of governance in the State, the real goal that lies behind the campaign for right to information.