Impersonal government is good Automating systems for disclosure may be the best option to strengthen transparency. India’s RTI Act, which completed its first decade of implementation this year, is arguably one of the world’s most widely used freedom of information acts. In one year alone (2011-12), over two million requests were submitted to the Central government and 10 of India’s 29 states. Yet, choosing to file an RTI is not always an innocuous act. Exposing corruption can make you enemies, and accounts abound of RTI users and activists being threatened, harassed, even assaulted or killed as a result of their requests. As the RTI starts its second decade, we need India’s government to ensure that information provision has a more impersonal face. This requires the government to invest in a data infrastructure that will allow it to go from passive to active transparency. The RTI and other freedom of information laws around the world are examples of how governments off...
One Stop Destination For Civil Services Preparation