Explain with example the impact of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Implementation of RIT Act The Right to Information Act was implemented by Indian Parliament on 15th June, 2005 and replaced the earlier Freedom of Information Act, 2002. The act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. RTI as a Watchdog of Democracy
This law has empowered people to act as watchdogs of democracy in the following ways:
(i) This act has given people an extensive right to know what is happening in the government.
(ii) This act enabled people to know about every detail of any programme from the levels of planning to implementation. By this, they can know lapses, misappropriation, etc if any, by any officials, and file a complaint.
(iii) This law helped control corruption and supplement the existing laws that ban corruption and impose strict penalties.
(iv) This law helps to know who has taken the decision as per the established norms and procedures. So, the executive have to think twice before taking any biased decision.
(v) Through this law, people are empowered with the right to know the source of income, details of expenditure, etc. This puts an effective control over the government officials while dealing with the funds.
(vi) In normal course, information to an applicant shall be supplied within 30 days from the receipt of application by the public authority. If information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person, it shall be supplied within 48 hours.