Mandate of the NHRC
The National Human Rights Commission functioning since 1993 is a statutory autonomous organization mandated to ensure the implementation of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993. The said Act is supposed to safeguard the Human Rights as mentioned under Section 2 of its Chapter 1. The Sub-section 'd' defines Human Rights as the 'Rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India'.

Constitution and Right to Information
Though the Constitution of India does not explicitly mention Freedom of Information or Right to Information, its Article 19, which says, " All citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression" does implicitly contain the Right to Information, as interpreted by the Supreme Court of India on several occasions in the past. In 1982 the Supreme Court stated,

'The concept of an open government is the direct emanation from the right to know which seems implicit in the right of free speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1a). Therefore disclosures of information in regard to the functioning of government must be the rule and secrecy an exception, justified only where the strictest requirement of public interest so demands. The approach of the Court must be to attenuate the area of secrecy as much as possible consistently with the requirement of public interest, bearing in mind all the time that disclosure also serves an important aspect of public interest.'

International Covenants and Right to Information
The International Covenants as referred to in the Act mean the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economical, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 16th December, 1966. India is a signatory to the ICPR, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966. The Article 19 of this treaty states inter alia "Everyone shall have the right to freedom to seek, receive and impart information of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or through any media of his choice."

It is therefore mandatory on the part of the National Human Rights Commission to promote legislation of people's Right to Information at national level and in States.

Progress of the RTI in the country
As is well known, a Central Bill on Freedom of Information which was tabled in Parliament on 25 July 2000 is still pending in Parliament without any rhyme or reason. However, commencing from 1997 the State legislatures in 7 States (Tamilnadu, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi) have one after another already passed the Right to Information Act. Again, a Bill to this effect has been placed in October 2001 in the Assembly of Assam and is pending for enactment. More over, the State Government of Uttar Pradesh have passed a Code of Procedure for dissemination of Information to the public to be observed by different administrative departments dealing with matters of public interest.

Right to Information Movement in Orissa
Though some moves have been taken by various quarters both in government and non- government sectors for legislating Right to Information in the State of Orissa, a sustained endeavour is yet to be launched for realizing it.

RTI and moves by the Government of Orissa

• On the occasion of Jay Prakash Jayanti on 11th of October 2001, the Chief Minister of Orissa announced that the State need to legislate a Right to Information Act.
• A draft-Bill on the Orissa Right to Information formulated by Sri Chitta Behera in consultation with some eminent lawyers and administrators of the State, was submitted to the CM, Orissa who in turn has congratulated the effort so made and referred the matter to the Secretary I and PR Department of the Government of Orissa for taking further action for its materialization (Vide- Email Message from the Office of Chief Minister, Orissa addressed to Sri Behera)
• Subsequent to the CM's directions, the Secretary to Government of Orissa in the Department of Information and Public Relations has been entrusted with the responsibility of taking appropriate measures for legislating a Right to Information law for the State. A Task Force on the Right to Information has also been formed with the Director Information and Public Relations, Government of Orissa as its key person to take necessary moves in the direction of an RTI law in the State.
• A selected group of Project Directors of District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) of the State have been trained in a Special Training Programme held at Gopabandhu Academy of Administration, Bhubaneswar during the 3rd Week of October 2001)
• The Government of Orissa in the Department of Panchayati Raj have in the recent past issued several circulars which purport to empower the people at village level for getting the desired information from the Panchayat Raj bodies.
• Some inspired administrators in their individual capacity have already embarked in their own way on the reform of the administrative procedures so as to make the administration transparent, accountable and responsive towards the common citizens. Worth mentioning is the plan envisaged by the Collector Anugul (Sri L.N.Gupta) for opening a District Information and Facilitation Centre, a one-stop comprehensive forum, where the common people can receive information on different schemes, get their grievances heard and disposed of, avail legal aid and counseling, transact the treasury challans and moreover lodge their complaints.
• The Governor of Orissa in his speech on the occasion of Republic Day 2002 has emphasized the need for a legislation on Right to Information in Orissa, in tune the speech by President of India for legislating Right to Information at national level and through out the country.

Public Efforts for legislating a Right To Information Act in Orissa

• In the year 1996, a platform against Corruption and Criminalisation consisting of persons from different ideologies and walks of life had championed the cause of Right to Information in Orissa through its various activities like rallies and seminars.
• In the wake of the super-cyclone of Oct.1999, some voluntary organizations had conducted dialogues and discussions among themselves on the need for legislating an RTI law in the State.
• On 4th of February 2001, a State-level Seminar on "Protection of Fragile Coastal Ecosystem and Endangered Species" was held at the fishing village of Kharinasi in Kendrapara district under the joint aegis of Project Swarajya and Spandan attended by Sri Arabinda Behera, lAS, MD, Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority and Sri Man Mohan Prahraj, IPS, IG, Orissa Police along with the scientist of Orissa State Pollution Control Board, where, a Resolution was adopted emphasizing among other things, the People's Right to Know from the management of a polluting industry like Oswal Fertilisers about the facts relating to pollution and the environmental safeguards if taken to prevent pollution.
• On 15th March 2001, on the occasion of 'World Consumers Day', a State-level Seminar was held at Basundhara, Cuttack under the joint aegis of Project Swarajya and Viswa Vikas MandaI, where Hon 'ble Justice Sri P C Mishra had spoken out strongly in favour of enacting an RTI law at both Central and State level, and where a Resolution was passed demanding enactment of such a law in the State of Orissa.
• In May 2001, an NGO named Orissa Patita Uddhar Samiti had organized a mass rally of women in Bhubaneswar demanding the legislation of RTI in the State and had presented the memorandum to that effect to the Governor of Orissa.
• Though the media, both electronic and print in Orissa are still on the whole cold and slothful on the issue of Right to Information, sporadic features have appeared in some newspapers in recent times, among which worth mentioning are two features, one by Sri Dillip Kumar Mohapatra, retired IPS, and Dr. Minakshi Panda, a lecturer of Political Science published by 'The Samaj' in its daily and weekly editions respectively, an editorial in Oriya daily 'Pragativadi' strongly pleading for enacting an RTI law in Orissa, and two serialized articles on the subject in another Oriya daily 'Paryabekshak dated 24 and 25 Dec.200l. Oriya magazine' Adhikar' a mouthpiece of Dalits edited by Sri Mohan Jena has been publishing write-ups regularly on People's Right to Know in the last six months.
• Meanwhile district-level Seminars involving government officials, Panchayat functionaries, NGOs, mediamen and lawyers have been held at Angul, Kendrapara and Keonjhar in Oct, Nov & Dec of200l respectively, attended by such Resource Persons as Sri Swaraj Biswal, Govt. Advocate, Orissa State Administrative Tribunal, Sri Chitta Behera, social activist and Sri Manas Jena, a Human Rights activist among others.
• On 10th of December 2001, on the occasion of World Human Rights Day, a Block level Workshop was held at Harichandanpur of Keonjhar district, under the aegis of a local NGO named CDA(Center of Developmental Activities) involving various cross-sections of officials and public as active participants.
• A State-level Consultation Meet was held in Bhubaneswar on 18-19th Dec.200 1 under the joint aegis of CYSD (Centre for Youth and Social Development) and CHRI (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi) with sixty participants from different walks of life participating in its deliberations. The Draft Bill on Orissa Right to Information 2002 was presented by Sri Chita Behera and discussed clause-wise in detail by the participants in the open house. The Draft-Bill with a few suggestions for its amendment received the unanimous approval of the members of the Consultation Meet. The panelists of the Meet included Sri R.Balakrishnan, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Information & Public Relations Dept., Orissa, Sri Lingaraj Rath, Retd. Judge Kerala and Orissa High Courts, Sri L C Amarnathan, Additional DG of Orissa Police and Smt. Mira Das, a Senior Advocate.
• A Signature Campaign in favour of a Memorandum to the Chief Minister, Orissa requesting him to take necessary steps for early implementation of an appropriate R n law has been continuing across the State.
• On the occasion of the inauguration of Bikash Yatra on 15th Nov 2001 at Cuttack to mark the International Year of Volunteers 2001, the memorandum on Right to Information was signed by eminent Sarvodaya leader, Sri Shyam Sunder Das and social workers like Sri Girija Bhusan Patnaik and Sri Binod Mohanty among others.
• On 20th Dec.2001, a public meeting was held in the Conference Hall of Distrtct Collectorate, Jagatsinghpur to felicitate the participants of Bikash Yatra, where Sri Chitta Behera spoke at length on the need for an RTI law in the State of Orissa. The meeting was attended by such eminent persons as Sri Laxman Mallik, Chairman Zilla Parishad, Sri Bishnu Das, MLA & Prof. K.B.Das of Utkal University among others.
• On 7th January 2002 , a Special Meeting at DRTC, CYSD , Bhubaneeswar was held for the social workers active at Panchayat level to sensitise them on the right to information at grass root level on the eve of Panchayat elections. The leader of Loksabha Dr.Jayaprakash Narayan, who is now conducting a campaign for Right to Information in neighboring Andhra Pradesh presented a draft-Bill on Andhra Pradesh Right to Information formulated by them.

What NHRC can do vis--vis the need for a RTI law in Orissa.

• NHRC should suggest to the Governor and Chief Minister of Orissa to involve the common people at grass root level in the debate and discussions around the Right to Information, to be organized at the expense of the Government.
• NHRC should sponsor a Study on the status of the Right to Information movement in the State of Orissa being conducted under both Government and non-Government efforts, and also on the state of preparedness of different departments of the State Government 0: Orissa for implementing an RTI law if and when it is enacted in near future.
• The Eastern Region Cell of the NHRC should encourage and promote the ongoing effort by both Government and public for giving shape to an RTI law in the State of Orissa.
• The Eastern Region Cell of the NHRC should convene an exclusive Consultation Meet of the concerned officials of the State Government, selected Panchayati Raj functionaries, interested NGOs, interested MLAs and MPs, representatives of media and eminent members of Bar on the topic of 'An Appropriate Orissa Right to Information Act 2002' so as to evolve a public consensus on the contents of an would-be RTI law for the State.

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