India is the largest democracy with a variety of governmental functionalities that include transactions with private and public enterprises. Our government is responsible for good governance as elected by ‘we the people’ as per the electoral process which we are proud of. We elect our representatives for our welfare. We, the youth of India are given the right to participate in the formation of the government which is a great privilege. With the complexities of governance and lack of monitoring processes, people who are responsible to safeguard our interests do it otherwise by running government departments for personal benefits. There are plenty of incidents that have brought the brand corruption to our country. Our country definitely deserves better governance through better accountability. Every official who is responsible for public funds and their spending should be accountable for his actions and there must be a mechanism to ensure they are monitored and remain answerable to us. Right to information act is the right instrument to ensure that kind of accountability.
Right to information is our constitutional right
We need to be aware of the fact that the Right to Information is one of our basic rights as citizens of this great country. This is a constitutional right that can be exercised by any one of us. It’s our responsibility otherwise to make use of this right to bring about change in our society for the future which can be branded as trustworthy and honest from being called as corrupt. The young India is rising and we are all partakers in the new rise of our enlightened society.
It is also important for all of us to know how the Right to Information works. Right to Information, ever since it has become an act is a tool or the right for us to ask for information from any government office. It could be the offices dealing with pensions, PFs, appointments, government jobs or any functionality that is undertaken by the government or its official that is linked to the public benefit or spending. For instance, if one of us wants to find out how a particular contract is granted by a Public Works department in any city, we can write to that officer in charge of that office and expect the response within thirty days. To facilitate this kind of information, all the government offices are asked to computerize the data related to all the transactions that are made. These transactions should include a complete chronology of information including calling of the tenders, timing for the same, companies quoted and the basis of which the contract is awarded. This is such a powerful right that the youth of India should be proud of.
There are always challenges in implementing a new and revolutionary idea. While the government in power may stay committed to stand by the citizens’ right, it is our firm duty to own and adopt this right as our own right and responsibility to build a clean and corruption free India.
