RTI Alone isn’t Enough

The RTI Act (Right to Information gave anyone the right to ask for information & the government had to respond to it. Within certain limits and categories, of course. Plus, it forced every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.

But is providing access to information enough to empower people? No, says Mike Gurstein who analyzed the impact of the digitization of land records in Bangalore:

“Their findings were that newly available access to land ownership and title information in Bangalore was primarily being put to use by middle and upper income people and by corporations to gain ownership of land from the marginalized and the poor. The newly digitized and openly accessible data allowed the well-to-do to take the information provided and use that as the basis for instructions to land surveyors and lawyers and others to challenge titles, exploit gaps in title, take advantage of mistakes in documentation, identify opportunities and targets for bribery, among others. They were able to directly translate their enhanced access to the information along with their already available access to capital and professional skills into unequal contests around land titles, court actions, offers of purchase and so on for self-benefit and to further marginalize those already marginalized.”

So it looks like having the ability to use or act on that information is also necessary to empower people. Which in turn requires money and/or analytical skills.

This isn’t to say things like RTI are no good. It just goes to show that providing access to information alone won’t empower (all) people. But it’s a good start nonetheless.

Comments

  1. KumarNovember 1, 2010 at 10:15 AM

    The analysis on which class of people will demand the of the RTI Act and the extent of its empowerment for people's benefit is quite valid. As you say "it is a good start".

    I would like observe that "it is indeed a pretty good start", because I know how some of our bureaucrats behaved, and still do. They never felt obliged to disclose information if delays, inactions, misdoings, favoritisms, corruption etc. occurred in their domain, which often do. They felt secure they can get away with anything. Hence it was a real uphill task when some groups took up the case for RTI, for, the babus (bureaucrats) fought tooth and nail against the act coming through, and that if it did, it had virtually no tooth! Fortunately for the people they did not succeed. And, already some babus have been punished when they did not abide by the RTI regulations.

    Let's hope better days will be ahead for us.

    ReplyDelete

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