"We had a Green Revolution and a White Revolution in the past. The 21st century is about information revolution," said G Madhavan, State Information Commissioner, Haryana, while speaking at a seminar on "RTI and good governance", jointly organised by Kurukshetra University and the State Information Commission at the university here today.
Madhavan said, "There are four essential elements of good governance: Transparency, informed citizenry, accountability and containment of corruption. The soul of the Right to Information Act is the disclosure of information regarding matters related to public authority."
He suggested that the government should contemplate introducing "oath of transparency" in place of "oath of secrecy" taken by the ministers, legislators and members of Parliament.
On a survey conducted by Transparency International, Madhavan said the survey had revealed that corruption had been reduced by 15 per cent in India by RTI enforcement.
KN Chaturvedi, former Secretary, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, spoke about the historical and legal perspective of the RTI Act.
RP Bajpai, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, said the government should think about punishing people who just want to harass the administration by repeatedly seeking information under the Act.
However, he said if used properly, the Act was a tool to empower people and to bring transparency in the system.
Source: The Tribune Experts dwell on right to info
