The Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019: The Politics of Disempowering Empowerment
item.page.doi
Access Status
This content is available to Open Access.
To download content simply use the links provided under the Files section.
More information about licence and terms of use for this content is available in the Rights section.
Date
2020-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of North Bengal
Statistics
Total views and downloads
Views
98Downloads
73Authors
Advisor
Abstract
The Right to Information has emerged as a powerful tool to strengthen participatory
democracy in India. The journey from secrecy to transparency was a result of people’s
arduous movement and also the active role played by the media and civil society
organisations that culminated into the Right to Information Act, 2005. The Act has given
statutory recognition to the cherished right to know and to be informed of the matters
that concern public at large. Since then, the Act has enabled the citizens to demand
information from every public authority carrying out public functions in exchange of a
nominal fee which is waived for the people below poverty line. The Act has indeed made
transparency a rule and secrecy an exception and has re instilled people’s faith in
democracy. From securing individual rights to unearthing scams worth crores, the Act
has emerged as a potent weapon empowering citizenry. However, it is interesting to
note that although considered boon to the citizens, the Act remained a bone of
contention to the government since inception. Almost every government in power have
made repeated attempts to dilute the Act. Eventually, the present government serving its
second term in power has finally succeeded in bringing significant changes in the Act
through the Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019. It is debatable as to whether
there was any imminent need for the amendment to be introduced or it is a conscious
effort to disempower people.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Accession No
Call No
ISBN No
ISSN No
0976-3570