Review of the book "RTI Act in India: Futures and Perspectives"
1 Oct, 2013Book Review - "RTI Act in India: Futures and Perspectives" Review by - Vishal Mishra
In the wake of political parties coming under the RTI Act and the efforts to dilute the effect of the decision of CIC through a Bill, this book tries to present the functioning of RTI Act through its interface with business and day-to-day governance. The ‘privacy’ syndrome is the biggest enemy of the transparency regime at a time of PRISMs watching India.
Author, an academic bureaucrat who had been with the transparency regulator, encapsulates in, limited but enough words, a diagnosis of various aspects connected with the RTI Act through this book.
Presented in a lucid way with different chapters discussing the interpretation of the right to information by the Supreme Court to the later interpretations of the RTI Act, 2005 itself, the book tries to address number of issues by plain juxtaposition. RTI Act affects everyone in this nation and the poor must utilise this Act. Being a beginner’s guide for someone who wants to know about various rights and duties enshrined in the Act, the chapter on business and transparency asks pertinent questions on the disclosure which affects the corporate houses. For the public authorities and those who are implementing the Act, book provides a model for better governance through the effective application of the RTI Act, 2005. For those associated with the governance architecture, book argues for efficient and transparent governance through the author’s experience.
This book was launched before the decision on political parties arrived. Although it stays away from the controversies surrounding this issue, it argues for a case of disclosures related to business which is much needed in the era of liberalisation. That chapter and the model of governance through transparency is an expedition towards the unexplored terrains of RTI Act, 2005.
Since the surveillance programme opens up the Pandora’s Box of ‘privacy’, with his vast practical experience of the way transparency through RTI Act is ushered in, author would have enriched the readers and the RTI practitioners alike, if he would have presented his views on surveillance programmes and the attendant clash between transparency and privacy.
Name of the Book: RTI Act in India: Futures and Perspectives
Name of the Publisher: McGraw Hill
Price : Rs. 395