The Hindu Business Line : <I>RTI campaign </I>

No enactment in recent memory has roused so much enthusiasm among the people as the Right to Information Act passed by Parliament last year. The Chief Information Commissioner (CIO) of Tamil Nadu, Mr S. Ramakrishnan, is doing a great job of visiting far corners of the State to explain, in public campaigns and closer interactions with different groups, the features of the Act that make it a powerful tool in the hands of the people to enforce accountability and transparency in the Central and State Governments.

He takes great pains at these forums to resolve doubts of the participants and urge them to exercise their powers under the Act effectively. State CIOs, by putting their full weight and authority behind the Act, can usher in a much-needed attitudinal revolution in officialdom and the political class to make them view "We, the people" not as supplicants, but as sovereign masters.

The CIOs can also breathe life into the Act by requiring officials to make it a practice of keeping the public fully informed on activities under their charge on their own, without waiting for requests to land on their table. If only every government office puts out on the notice board information on matters such as electric connection, provision of basic amenities, repairs to roads and public buildings, issue of permits and licences, and applications pending action, the possibility of harassment and corruption can be conspicuously reduced. Similarly, the various courts could publish the current status of pending cases as also those fully heard on which judgments are yet to be delivered, with the reasons for delay.

Besides, people's organisations, in their newsletters, could include brief reports of deviation from norms and rules as evident from information received from the various departments. Private sector too should voluntarily fall in line with the provisions of the Act in dealing with the public.

B. S. RAGHAVAN