Right to Information: A new journey begins
By Nalaka Gunawardene
On June 24, 2016, Parliament unanimously adopted the Right to Information (RTI)
law.
This marks the culmination of over two decades of advocacy by civil society
groups and journalists. It also fulfills a key promise of the yahapalana
government.
Passing the law was no easy task, as it went through a year of drafting,
judicial review by the Supreme Court, and considerable political scrutiny. The
government and other political parties in Parliament – who rarely agree on
anything – came together to pass the law without a vote.
However, our challenges are far from over. Now begins the daunting task of
implementing the new law. RTI calls for a complete reorientation of government
in how it handles information and promotes openness. This is unfamiliar ground.
As one skeptical citizen, Harindra Dassanayake (@HarindraBD) said on Twitter
within hours of the law being passed: “Lanka has many good laws, with hopeless
or zero impact. Hope RTI [would] be different. It’s time to act and not
celebrate.”
Indeed, there is much to do. The law’s adoption is only a fresh start. Proper
implementation needs political will, administrative support and sufficient
public funds.
We would also need on-going monitoring by civil society groups and the media to
guard against the whole process becoming mired in too much red tape.
Late comers, quick learners?
With the new law, Sri Lanka becomes the 108th country to have introduced RTI
laws, also known as freedom of information laws.
That leaves only Bhutan in South Asia without a national RTI law, according to
Venkatesh Nayak, Programme Coordinator with the Commonwealth Human Rights
Initiative (CHRI) in New Delhi.
Nayak, a noted RTI expert and activist, says that countries without RTI laws are
becoming a smaller and smaller minority on the planet.
He adds: “But for the long drawn ethnic conflict, Sri Lanka would have been the
second country in South Asia to enact a national RTI law if efforts made in
2003-4 had reached fruition.”
In the event, Sri Lanka took the belated first step in April 2015, when the 19th
Amendment to the Constitution made the right to information a fundamental right.
The RTI Act puts in place the administrative arrangement to enable citizens to
exercise that right.
Sri Lanka is certainly a late comer to the global RTI community, but we can
exploit this to our advantage. Our neighbours and other countries have so much
experience in this respect that can help us in implementation.
For example, RTI has emerged as a powerful tool in the hands of Indian citizens
since the national law came into effect in 2005. So much so, it has now become a
verb (as in “We will RTI this information” when confronted with a problem).
Across India, young schoolchildren and grandmothers with no formal education are
using RTI requests to solve local level problems – from overdue scholarship
payments to restoring suspended rural bus services.
In Bangladesh, which adopted its RTI law in 2009, citizens and NGOs are
creatively using public information to combat poverty and counter corruption.
RTI needs imagination
What transformative impact can the RTI law have on Lankan society, politics and
governance? The answer is in everybody’s hands.
Unlike most other laws, RTI is one for citizens to seize and use. That, in turn,
requires a commitment to the public interest, plus plenty of imagination and
tenacity.
When the new Act comes into effect six months from now, any citizen of any age
should be able to seek and receive information held with a public authority at
central, provincial or local levels.
The law covers all organs of the State - Parliament, Executive (President and
Cabinet) and the Judiciary. This includes the police and public sector
corporations, local government bodies, as well as private entities carrying out
public functions or providing public services under contract or license from
local authorities (to the extent such work is concerned).
Problem solving
To be sure, the law has some exemptions when the right of access to information
may be denied on legitimate grounds such as protecting the privacy of
individuals, safeguarding national security and preventing the premature release
of vital economic data (e.g. exchange rates, regulation of banking and
taxation). These are common to RTI laws the world over.
Some are not happy with the extent of exemptions. But in my view, we should
focus on so much information that now becomes our right to ask for -- and
receive within 21 days or less.
On the part of public authorities, they will no longer be allowed to release
information as and when they wish. RTI law defines how it must be done and
failure to do so has consequences for public officials.
Citizens, on their part, must find sufficient purpose and focus in information
they can demand and receive. RTI is not a mere political slogan, but a practical
tool for solving problems.
For example, how does our local body spend our tax money? On what basis are
Samurdhi beneficiaries selected? Or how are government jobs given to some and
not others?
RTI will prise open the hitherto closely guarded ‘reservoirs’ of information.
A five member RTI Commission appointed by the President -- on the
recommendations of the Constitutional Council -- will monitor and process and
investigate citizen’s complaints and appeals. The Commission’s decisions can
also be challenged before the Court of Appeal.
All this concerns the ‘supply side’ of public information, which is surely going
to be enhanced. But what about the demand side? Are we ready for active
citizenship armed with more information?
To draw an analogy from water management, opening the sluice gates of a water
reservoir can benefit only if the downstream systems are in place and the users
are ready. With both water and information, recipients need to know how to make
the best use of what comes through.
Bigger picture
In the coming weeks and months, much needs to be done to ensure RTI readiness
among public officials, and RTI awareness among the public.
As we get busy with the nitty-gritty operational details, let us not lose sight
of the bigger picture. RTI signifies unleashing a new potential, and a major
change in the status quo.
First, we must shake off a historical legacy of governments not being open or
accountable to citizens. For over 2,000 years of monarchy, over 400 years of
colonial rule and 67 years of self-rule since independence, all our governments
have restricted public information – even mundane things unrelated to any
security or sensitive issues.
The ‘default setting’ in most government agencies is to deny and restrict
information. To change this, both public servants and citizens will need a
paradigm shift in their minds.
As long-standing champions of RTI, Lankan media and civil society must now
switch roles. While benefiting from RTI themselves, they can nurture the newly
promised openness in every sphere of public life. They can show, inspire and
equip other citizens how best to make use of it.
However, RTI is not just a piece of law or changing how governments share public
information. At its most basic, RTI is a collective state of mind. With its
adoption, our society can start moving along a more open, informed and
inquisitive pathway.
Science writer and columnist Nalaka Gunawardene has long chronicled the rise of
Sri Lanka’s information society. He tweets at @NalakaG |