The Hindu Business Line : <I>Wise use of RTI </I>

The Right to Information Act is certainly historic in that it places in people's hands for the first time a powerful instrument to extract information out of the governing class and expose to the glare of the public the hitherto hidden genesis and motivations of official decisions, and the nature and extent of their implementation.

However, if it is to really serve the intended purpose of keeping the various echelons of the Central and State governments on their toes, it has to be used by the civil society and the interested citizens in a focused manner. In their exuberance, they should not resort to it to go on wide-ranging fishing expeditions by seeking, and submerging themselves in, all kinds of documents and data of no immediate or practical relevance.

Actually, it is possible, by asking pointed information on crucial aspects of governance, to enforce transparency, accountability, propriety and probity, improve service delivery and bring about a radical transformation in work culture.

For example, a simple request to the Registrars of the Supreme and High Courts for information on cases which have been heard but on which judgments have not been delivered, with the names of defaulting judges, will bring down the number dramatically. Likewise, a question to the Estates Office of the Central Government on MPs/ex-MPs who are overstaying in official premises or have piled up arrears of rents, electricity and phone bills and other dues will vastly strengthen its hands in taking action against them.

Applying to the offices of the President/Vice-President/Speakers/Prime Minister/Chief Ministers/Governors for the number of letters received from the public, say, in the previous six months, under suitable headings, the number replied to and the number pending will immediately make the exalted personages and their lethargic secretariats alive to the importance of being responsive to their sovereign masters. Try them and savour the results!

B. S. RAGHAVAN