India is a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic and Republic country. Here the people choose the Government. The ultimate power lies in the hands of the people. The Government works for the welfare of the people and the information kept by Government holds the memory of the nation and provides a full portrait of its activities, performance and future plans.
The people have the right to know every public way by their public functionaries. Lack of information refuses people the opportunity to develop their potential to the fullest and realize the full range of their Human Rights. Therefore the Government of India enacted The Right to Information Act-2005.
The concept and philosophy of Right to Information is already enshrined in our Constitution under the Article 19(1)(a) and Article 21 but they were insufficient. This Act has brought this abstract concept to ground reality. Right to Information Act brought a ray of hope at the time when there was rampant corruption and inefficiency in the Government departments. The Right to Information Act 2005 provides a process for citizens to access the information about all actions taken by the Public Authorities except certain information, which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India or the security, strategic, scientific or economic matters related to nation's interest. Although an amendment of this act was under consideration, the amendment would have left it being a toothless tiger. Thankfully, it wasn't amended and the Act Was implemented in its original form.
This act is a welcome step, a step by the Government towards fair, transparent and responsible democracy. However the rest depends on the citizens how they respond to this act to protect their rights. Information is a global resource of unlimited potential for all. This would make the dream of a substantive answerability would decrease the widespread corruption and then the ultimate power would lie in the hands of the people making India not only the largest Democracy, but also one of the strongest democracies.
