Right to Information and Rural Development

(This areticle was carried in Kurukshetra, July 2005 issue as a cover page article)

Right To Information and Rural Development

Pradeep Baisakh

Right to information is a basic democratic right existent in all most all functional democracies, though mostly at conceptual level and less in practice. The concept has caught the limelight because of its inclusion as an aspect of good governance popularised by the World Bank. The highest judiciary in many judgments has ruled that the right to information is a fundamental right flowing from the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article-19 (a) the Constitution, and the Parliament has passed the Right to Information Act-2005 in the budget session to give effect to the concept. . As many as nine state governments have also passed brought such acts before.

Rural Development (RD) is probably the biggest challenge before the planners and the policy makers of India .Despite launching numerous schemes and programmes, and pumping corers of rupees for RD the overall picture of rural India continue to be grim. Today rural India is marked by high incidence of poverty and illiteracy, widespread disease, considerable unemployment, prevalent malnutrition level among children and woman and the masses at large , existence of miserable rural infrastructure like roads, electricity, primary health, drinking water etc, traditional way of farming ,lack of irrigation facilities and many other socio-political problems. The failure in improving the rural scenario is attributed less to the formulation of appropriate policies, more to their implementation. The problem lies in the unawareness on the part of people about the details of the programmes and prevalence of wide spread corruption during the execution of them. It is in these areas that the tool of ‘right to information act’ can make path breaking impact. The use of right to information can spread awareness among the masses about various ingredients of the developmental and welfare schemes bring about openness and transparency in their implementation thereby facilitating the process of people’s participation in both the policy formulation and implementation. Let’s discuss how.

It is pertinent to point out here that the government statistics on the achievements of the rural development programmes look quite satisfactory, but things are different on the ground. The instrument of right to information can get hold of the official records and then can catch the discrepancy by comparing them with the ground realities.

(a) RTI and Public Distribution System:

Hunger, malnutritution and occasional cases of starvation deaths in the rural areas are some causes of grave concern to any sensible individual. In order to ensure the food security and to maintain the appropriate nutritional level among the populace the Government has put in place the Public Distribution System(PDS), which is supposed to make available the monthly rations to the people in subsidised rate to the below poverty line(BPL) and the ‘poorest of the poor’ section of population apart from others. As much as 26,000 crores of rupees are spent per year by way of food subsidy in the process. However, due to the existence unholy nexus between the licensees of the fair price shops (FPS) and the officers of food supply department, substantial portion of the money is siphoned off through black marketing; as a result the whole PDS system is in shambles. But, the fact that the use of RTI can change the whole PDS system was proved by the people of Sunder Nagri area of Delhi. The case study is as following:
With the active help of Parivartan-a citizens’ initiative on RTI in Delhi, the people of Sunder Nagri area of Delhi got hold of the records of the FPSs by making wide use of the Delhi RTI Act. While the records were cross-verified by way of asking the ration card holders in that area, numerous discrepancies were found between reality and what the records had to show. Following the discrepancies, complain were made near the Food and Supply Office demanding the cancellation of the licenses of the erring FPSs. The authorities however preferred non-action. The people then filed another set of application, this time under RTI Act, near the same authorities seeking the information regarding the progress made on the application seeking action against the errant FPSs ,as a result of which the authorities promptly woke up to act . It may be pertinent to describe the nature of questions asked under RTI act seeking information on the progress made on the previous application:

Please provide the following information with respect to the same:

1.Please provide the daily progress made on my application.
2.Please give the names and designations of the officials with whom my application was lying during this period. Please intimate the periods when it was lying with which officer and what was the action taken by that official during that period.
3.According to your rules or citizens charter or any other order, in how many days should such a matter be dealt with and resolved. Please provide a copy of these rules.
4.The above officials have not adhered to the time limit mentioned in these rules. Are these officials guilty of violating these rules and hence guilty of misconduct under their conduct rules. Please give a copy of their conduct rule, which they have violated by violating the above mentioned rule.
5.What action can be taken against these officials for violating all the above rules and for causing mental agony to the public? By when this action would be taken?
6.By when will you act on my complains made?

Under the Delhi RTI act, the authorities are duty bound to furnish information within thirty days after the receipt of the application; if they fail in adhering the time limit then their salary would be deducted. Since it was difficult to answer the above questions, the authorities preferred redressing the grievances of the person(s) and requesting the withdrawal of such applications. This whole movement of Parivartan has borne fruit and the Delhi Government has accepted the following suggestions in the PDS.
1. The Govt has agreed to throw open the records of all the shops in Delhi for public inspection every Saturday. The people, without paying any fee and without giving any prior intimation can go to the nearest Food office and inspect the records.
2. If any discrepancy were found in the records during public inspection, the shop would be placed under suspension immediately on the spot and criminal proceedings be initiated subsequently.
Now the FPSs are seen always open in the area discussed. The authorities are ensuring that the ration is arriving near the FPSs on the 1st of the month. This is how systemic changes could be brought about in the complex system like PDS by the people through the use of RTI Act. This is in fact a landmark achievement for the people. If similar exercise is emulated in all rural areas of the country, then the starvation death and widespread malnutrition would be matters of past.

(b) RTI and the Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation Schemes:

Two national programmes, specifically aiming at ensuring food security and improving nutritional levels in rural areas by way of providing additional wage employment to the people, who are unskilled, are in operation. They are SGRY (Sampoorn Gramin Rojgar Yojna) and NFFW(National Food For Work) Programme. Crores of rupees and lakhs of tones of food grains are supplied to villages to achieve the said objectives, but with little gain.The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in case of SGRY and the Dist Collectors in case of the NFFW are the implementation authorities. It is an open fact that wide spread embezzlement and irregularities take place during the implementation of such programmes .In order to check these, information about the list of beneficiaries of these programmes, the muster rolls etc may be sought by any individual or a group of people or any civil society organisation under RTI Act .Having got the list the mentioned beneficiaries may be touched upon and enquired for cross verification if
(a) They have really been given the work, and
(b) If given, then whether they were paid the according to the figures shown in the records.
After the cross verification if any discrepancy is found between the records and what the beneficiaries said ,the facts may be put before the appropriate authority for action against all those who are parties to the fraud. These can also be discussed in the public platform like “jan sunwai” where the people are the participants and the jury both. Discussion in such forums takes place in an open environment and the versions of the beneficiaries are testified in a transparent manner. Even after these exercises ,if action is not taken against the guilty persons, then another application may be filed, this time under the RTI Act, similar to the ones done in case of PDS system seeking information on the progress of the complains made. This time the authorities will be compelled to listen to the grievances of the complainant(s) and may offer to compensate all the damages done to the victims and persuade for the withdrawal of the application filed under RTI. In the ultimate analysis the courts are there to be approached if the authorities still continue to be stubborn. It is appropriate to cite the example of the achievement of MKSS in this area.

“In a small village of Rajasthan in 1990 the workers demanded the minimum wages (under the Minimum Wages Act) for the work they were doing. They were told that they had not done the work, as proved in the records. When the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghathan( MKSS ) made a demand to see the records, they were told that these records are government accounts and therefore secret. Struggles followed and ultimately people were given the records. Cross examination revealed that in records all the workers were given the minimum wages, which was denied to them in realty. It is from here the group came to know the importance of access to government records. It became evident that it was necessary to access records in order to prevent corruption and to obtain the minimum wage.” It may be noted here that it is this struggle of MKSS in 1990s that the seed of RTI movement was implanted in India leading to the fruit in terms of the passage of a RTI Acts in both state and central level.
The National Employment Guarantee Bill that promises to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to every household proposes to converge all the wage employment schemes into one. The success of this scheme, once the bill is passed, would require wide use RTI acts as Mr. Jean Dreze, the NAC member and the architect of Bill, himself agrees.

Another similar issue of concern is the flawful implementation and prevalence of widespread nepotism, favouritism and slippery in the self-employment programmes like SGSY(Swarna Jayanti Gramin Swarojgar Yojna), PMGY(Prime Minister Gramodaya Yojna) etc. Some case studies suggest that full GramSabha meetings are not summoned while choosing the beneficiaries of poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes; in many cases the Self Help Groups (SHGs) simply do not exist. In the name of SHGs some influential persons in the village, who are near and dear to the Pradhan or the Panchayat members enjoy the fruit of all the schemes. The people either do not know about the schemes, or if they know, are getting the subsidised loans under these schemes only after paying bribes. In Rajasthan there is a popular saying: “Ya tho jack ho, ya cheque ho (You must have contacts to use or money for bribes).” fits very much here. The use of RTI, if done appropriately, would prove to be very effective in eliminating nepotism and favouritism and bring about transparency in the process of selection of beneficiaries and delivering good results.
(c)RTI and Rural Infrastructure:

The next major issue of concern is the development of infrastructure in the rural areas. The central government schemes like the PMGY(Prime Minister Gramodaya Yojna), IAS(Indira Awas Yojna), and PMGSY(Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojna) etc are in operation for catering the rural infrastructure like roads, drinking water, electrification, housing etc. In order to make the system work effectively the records of the public works done in a village or an area for one or more financial yeas may be sought under the RTI for conducting social audit. Inspection may be done by physically going to the work sites in order to see if
(a) The works exist or not, and
(b) If exist then whether the work done were of the satisfactory quality or not.
This kind of activity is presently going on with ‘Parivartan’ in Delhi. The volunteers of it and the people of various area of Delhi are asking the records of public works done in their areas. Verification done in some areas reveals that in many instances works exist only on papers, not in reality. In some other cases the work done are of poor quality. Apprehending the fact that corruption would come to limelight (as it has come on some cases) once the people start verifying the records, the authorities are approaching the applicants for compromise. The people however feel that they should have control over the government expenditure and want the following demands to be accepted. 1. Before spending any money in any area, the local people should be consulted. Not a single penny should be spent in any area without the approval from the local people.
2. When the work is in progress the people should have the right to inspect the same, and after the work is done the records of such works should be thrown open for public scrutiny.
3. Before making any payment for any work, satisfaction of the people should be ascertained. No payment should be made without the approval of the people.
Once these demands are accepted by the government the people can supervise the developmental process in their areas. And if similar exercise can be emulated in all the rural areas, proper execution of the infrastructure projects can be ensured.
Similarly the imaginative and innovative use of RTI can address the problems of iliteracy, poor health and sanitary condition, under performance of anganwadis and after all the underdevelopment of agriculture and irrigation in rural areas by ensuring the meaningful expenditure of the public money allocated for the purpose.

(d)RTI facilitates the involvement and participation of people in the development process.

During the process of ascertaining the information on various fields discussed above, the members of public are likely to suggest remedial measures and alternative policy proposals on those issues. Apart from this, under the RTI laws the authorities are supposed to make some suo moto publicity of information about various issues of public concern. Once this is properly done, it would provide ample opportunities to the intellectuals, civil societies and common people to contribute their rich inputs to the process of policy formulation, decision making and their execution. For instance, in Rajasthan the suggestions of MKKS removed the serious anomalies existing in polices of rural development ,and the Panchayati Raj Act was amended giving the Ward Sabha (a group of 50 to 80 homes) legal status and the right to conduct social audits of works carried out in its area.
(e) RTI and the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Similarly continuous RTI movement in the rural areas of different states may enable the people to be in a position to pressurise the governments of various states to incorporate some of the following suggestions for the effective functioning of the PRIs that hold the key to the development of rural areas.
1. It should be mandatory for the pradhans to properly inform the members of Grama Sabha about the timing and the purpose of the meeting.
2. The provision of quorum of the meetings is made mandatory before finalising the names of beneficiaries of the Poverty alleviation and Employment Generation programmes. The minimum presence of the women and the SC/ST members should also constitute the part of the quorum.
3. The plans of the development of rural infrastructure shoud be compulsorily approved, by way of signatures, by the Grama Sabha before the funds are released for their implementation.
4. All the necessary information should be suo moto displayed in Panchayat office notice board, and all the records of expenditure like bills, vouchers and muster rolls etc should be thrown open for public audit.

Some Prerequisites :

However there are some pre-requisites for the above discussed exercise to succeed. The first necessity is to have an effective RTI Act both at the central and the state level, (which we will fortunately have once the RTI Bill passed by Parliament gets the Presidential assent). In such acts at least four essential provisions should be present. They are:
(a) Access to information should be the rule, denial to it be the exception. The grounds of denial to information be clearly and specifically mentioned.
(b) There should be a fixed time limit within which the sought information is to be provided, failing which the Information Officer would be penalized.
(c)Penalty provision for non-compliance to the demand of information or for furnishing false information by the officials.
(d)Provision for an independent mechanism to address to the complaints of public denied information or provided with false information.
The second one is popularising the use of RTI Acts. For this the government should be made responsible to publicise the various provisions of the act. However for the effective publicity the civil society organizations, intellectuals, experts have to give leadership to masses as Ms Aruna Roy and MKSS in Rajsthan, Mr. Anna Hazare in Maharastra ,Mr. Arvind Kejerwal and Parivartan in Delhi are giving. The mass should be made to realise about the potential of such concept in redressing individual and public grievances and be encouraged to practice the same. The role of mass media is very important in highlighting the achievements of the use of RTI. Apart from the mainstream media the help of traditional medias like ‘nukads’, puppet dances, community radios, local news papers etc may be taken to spread the message to every rural household. Last, but not the least, a good number of Fast Track Corts should be constituted for the speedy disposal of corruption cases caught as a result of use of RTI.
Conclusion:
The success of the RTI movement depends on the will of the politicians to pass an effective law, on the bureaucrats to change their mindset and adapt it to the concepts of good governance, and on the civil society to maintain constant pressure on the government apart from popularising the concept and giving direction to populace. Then only it will be possible to empower the poorest individual of the remotest rural area of the country and would usher the era of democracy at work, at the grass root.

The author is asociated with PARIVARTAN-the Citizen's Initiative on RTI