The Hindu Business Line : Right to notings

DOES the right to information envisaged under the recently enacted Central legislation include the notes of various functionaries contained in the files of Ministries and departments? The President, while giving assent to the Act, had expressed himself against notings in official files being made available to outsiders.

The reasoning behind the objection is that those notes are written at various levels from the assistants upwards by way of examining the pros and cons of issues still under consideration, and the likelihood of their getting into the hands of outsiders at some stage may inhibit the officials from giving their frank opinion for fear that their stand may be misconstrued and they may be dragged into unsavoury controversies by interested parties.

The President's point is sanctified by the existing system. Actually, even within official circles, access to files is to be limited to those concerned with the subject matter and disclosure to others even within the government of internal notings is not permissible. In other words, the privileged nature of notes even in files which may not have been formally classified as "Confidential", "Secret" or "Top Secret" is taken as axiomatic.

There is a procedure in all countries of releasing official files (notings and all), other than those dealing with highly sensitive matters such as national security and intelligence, for public inspection after a specified number of years. Governments in India have not been paying attention to this requirement partly due to inertia and partly also stemming from a culture of exclusivity dating back to the British days that kept the people at arms' length.

Should not the sovereign masters in a democracy, "We, the People", know the basis of decisions that are being made in their name, including the considerations leading up to them? Should not officials joining in the discussions on files be bold enough to own up their views and defend them in public?

The only answer to both questions is a resounding Yes! Right to notings should not be left to the caprices of officialdom nor should it be conditional on application being made under the Act.

As Mr Ram Jethmalani, when he was a Cabinet Minister, sought to do, files (with rare exceptions) of Ministries should be made available for public scrutiny at all times.

B. S. Raghavan

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Air India's moment

Agriculture knows no caste

Undue fear of China Inc?

Death of governance

Right to notings

Management by impressions

The battle of attrition between labour and the BPO industry

`We are pushing for decontrol' — Ms Rajshree Pathy, President, Indian Sugar Mills Association

Podcasting and the making of a sandwich

BSNL's tariff policy

Rail link to Beijing

Relevance of Gandhiji