Tamil Nadu   

Need for new right to information Act

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JULY 22. Consumer organisations have urged the State Government to enact a new law amending the Tamil Nadu Right to Information Act (1997) as "the existing legislation had failed to achieve the objectives for which it was enacted".

A.K. Venkat Subramanian, trustee of the Catalyst Trust, talking to newsmen here on Wednesday said voluntary organisations that invoked the Act were unable to obtain information from various Government organisations. Often, the authorities concerned gave no reply.

As the Governor had announced in the Assembly that a new Right to Information bill was under the Government's consideration "so as to institutionalise open and participatory administration", the Trust along with the Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group and the Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation had suggested various features to be included in the proposed act.

Practical suggestions

Mr. Subramanian said Tamil Nadu was first to enact the legislation. However, there are some deficiencies — no mechanism to review and too many exemptions. Again the authority that was authorised to give the information was in the rank of a deputy collector or above — a level most rural people had no access.

To make the new act more people-friendly, the organisations suggested various proposals including reduction in time limit for giving the information from 30 to 15 days and penalty for not providing in time or passing on wrong information, creation of a tribunal whose chairman should be a sitting or retired high court judge and periodical review of the act.

He said the right to information would help people question "irregularities in Government functioning". So it was the duty of the Government to enact a new law and pave the way for good governance, he added.

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