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This round to RTI

Further to the "not/e approved" story quoted in the editorial "This round to the RTI" (Aug. 23), I wish to bring to light some other methods followed in government offices with respect to file notings. When files are put up with notes to some officials for orders, they write "P.I." (personal inspection) or "speak" in pencil. After their demands are met, they call for the files, erase the pencil marks and approve the notes.

If they make the remarks in pen they write "inspected" and "spoken" beside the original observations and approve the notes. The Centre has shelved the amendments to the RTI for the time being. The all-powerful bureaucracy will be waiting to push them through.

S. Nallasivan,
Tirunelveli, T.N.

On the bureaucracy's stranglehold on the decision-making process, I cannot but quote a passage from Franz Kafka's The Castle. "All governments are subject to one international order — the bureaucracy. It considers itself omnipotent and backs itself up. The ideological system may change, but the bureaucracy continues to function without a hitch, because, free as it is from any value judgements, it has no difficulty in integrating itself with any system ... Even in the midst of political turmoil and uncertainty, it will trust its own law and endure. Not even its smell will change."

K.S.S. Sarma,
Kurnool, A.P.

Government files are of two kinds — note file and current file. The note file covers the entire process of decision-making while the current file comprises only correspondence which is ordinarily accessible. If the notings and discussions in the note file are made accessible to the public, officers and Ministers will be forced to treat issues impartially.

Rocky Ukken,
Thiruvananthapuram

The Government's withdrawal of the move to dilute the RTI Act is doubtless "a significant victory for the people of India." Who would want to dilute the Act except those who have something to hide? RTI activists should not become complacent though. Like a dormant virus, the amendments can reappear with virulence.

Maj. Gen.
S.G. Vombatkere (retd.),
Mysore

Political witch hunting has become the rule every time a new government assumes power. The people have a right to know what compelled the government of the day to embark on retrospective review of cases. The file notings will expose the real intentions. Of course it will be a different matter if an issue is decided orally with the help of pliable officers.

P.S. Krishnan,
Chennai

The RTI Act is no doubt a progressive instrument of democracy empowering citizens to obtain information. At the same time, the Government cannot be faulted for proposing to exempt file notings from the Act's purview. As rightly pointed out by the President, the Service Chiefs, and the UPSC, the disclosure of file notings will harm the process of decision making as officials will refrain from rendering objective advice. The best course would be to have a full-fledged debate on the issue before introducing the amendment.

A.V.A. Eswaran,
New Delhi

Some notes may be irrelevant or digressing bits. Any exposure to the notings alone will be misleading and will give room for distorting the truth. The writer of the note intends it for the decision maker and not for public reading. It will be unfair to him if it is made public. His rights also need to be protected.

R.J.B. Frederick,
Thanjavur, T.N.

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