Discussion Paper Series - 4

People’s Right to Information Movement: Lessons from Rajasthan

by Neelabh Mishra

United Nations Development Programme 55, Lodi Estate New Delhi - 110 003 India 2003 The analysis and policy recommendations of this Paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Development Programme, its Executive Board or its Member States. PROLOGUE

Human Development Resource Centre (HDRC) of the India Country Office and South Asia Poverty Allevia- tion Programme (SAPAP) took the lead in having this paper prepared as a part of research and advocacy to Right to Information. Current debates on effectiveness of development interventions focus increasingly on transparency and ac- countability of public expenditure. The Indian experience where community demands to know the details of usage of public funds is instructive. The work of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and the subse- quent enactment of legislations pertaining to Right to Information in number of Indian States is a good exam- ple of a vibrant grassroots democracy at work. This paper is an independent account of the process of people’s demand to know how funds are expended and also an evaluation of the legislative procedure across Indian states. We hope that this narrative, which is from an activist’s viewpoint, could be of interest to all development practitioners as we grapple with the complexi- ties of good governance in South Asia. Mr.Neelabh Mishra is a renowned journalist and has been associated with Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) since its inception. iv CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER I GENESIS 4

CHAPTER II THE STRUGGLE FOR ENTITLEMENT 8 Kot Kirana: The First Public Hearing 10 A Pattern Unfolds 11 Bhim: The Second Public Hearing 11 Vijaypura: The Third Jan Sunwai 12 Jawaja Jan Sunwai: Battle Lines for Right to Information 13 Populist But Catalytic Announcement 14 Thana Public Hearing: A Welcome Contrast 15 Follow-up of the Jan Sunwais and the Backlash 20 Stepping Up the Campaign for Right to Information 22 Beawar Dharna 22 Secrecy of the Report on Right to Information 25 Formation of NCPRI 26 Agitation Again and Jaipur Dharna 27

CHAPTER III MATURING METHODOLOGY 30 Surajpura Public Hearing: The Way Forward 32 Bori Public Hearing: Fighting A Feudal Grip 33 Bhim Jan Sunwai: Knocking at the System’s Gate 35 Janawad Jan Sunwai: A Long Road 36 Analysing the Growth 40

CHAPTER IV FALLOUT 42 The Question of Transparency in Civil Society 42 RTI Agitation Elsewhere in Rajasthan 42 Lateral Impact 43

v CHAPTER V GRANTING THE ENTITLEMENT 45 The Rajasthan Act: Through a Transparent Process 45 Towards RTI as Law: The States and the Nation 46 Campaign Criteria for Strong Legal Provisions 57 What Should a Strong Law Have? 62

CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION 64 A Need to Open Up 64 Looking Ahead 65

BIBLIOGRAPHY 72

vi Introduction

The human lie or falsehood was alien to quantity the assets you have built for us the wise race of horses, the Honhyhums, on the ground, not on paper, they have in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. In asked. They are angry, not amazed, at the absence of any word for lie or false- what they have found. And what have hood in their language that recognised they found? only the truth, the Honhyhums called it Ghost entries in muster rolls of famine ‘The Thing Which is Not’. Had they relief or other rural development work made a voyage of discovery through the gobbling up wages of real residents in mazes of government paperwork in con- the village who are too poor to buy them- temporary India and seen them in the selves two square meals and are with- It is more than eight light of the material reality around, they out any other job. School rooms non- years now since the would have been amazed by the most existent in reality but entered in the poor in the villages of telling instance of what approximates records as complete. Wells dug only in central Rajasthan ‘The Thing Which is Not’ - the so called documents while women fetch water have been taking on ‘Development’. from miles away. Stones never supplied headlong the question The ordinary villagers of central to build a small path bridge, roads never of accountability and Rajasthan afflicted nearly mortally by the repaired, sums never loaned out to the transparency in great lie, could not like the Honhyhums poor for self-employment but embezzled development merely afford to contemplate and be by petty village officials and the rural expenditure amazed by it from a distance. It is more rich, and so on and so forth - all form- than eight years now, since late 1994, ing perfect entries in government that they have been holding up to the records. The great lie of development is light of stark reality the manufactured certainly not harmless ‘Fiction’ as in lit- myth of development and ‘poverty al- erature and art, to regale and enlighten leviation’. Eight long years, since the (though it does that in an ironic sense), poor in the villages of central Rajasthan but a cover-up for the greed of a few at have been taking on headlong the ques- the cost of the collective good. tion of accountability and transparency How do the poor know what happened in development expenditure. to the minimum wage that would have Account for our money, they have made them survive one more day? By asked, which we give as taxes for our demanding information contained in collective material development. Or the the official documents. Only after ex- money that comes for us from all over ercising their right to know can the poor the world as aid. Show up in quality and strive to get back the many minimum

1 wage days snatched from them. The “Where a society has chosen to accept democ- many days of their lives snatched from racy as its creedal faith, it is elementary that them, in fact. the citizens ought to know what their govern- ment is doing.” By exercising their Right to Know - or the Right to Information - collectively “The people of this country have a right to through a long series of Jan Sunwais or know every public act, everything, that is done Public Hearings on development ex- in a public way, by their functionaries. They penditure in their villages, the poor peas- are entitled to know the particulars of every ants and workers have taken a step to- public transaction in all its bearing. wards shifting the local power balance “The concept of an open government is the in their favour. They have made corrupt direct emanation from the right to know which people return the embezzled money in seems to be implicit in the right of free speech many cases and instilled a sense of fear and expression guaranteed under article in the permanent and elected local gov- By exercising their 19(1)(a). Right to Know - or the ernment functionaries. Through these Right to Information - Public Hearings, the poor have sought “It has, therefore, been held since long before collectively through a to fight corruption, demand account- Conway v. Rimmer (1968 AC 910) (supra) long series of Jan ability from those who rule in their was decided in England and since the deci- Sunwais or Public name, reclaim development done in their sion in Sodhi Sukhdev Singh’s case (AIR Hearings on name and exercise their sovereignty over 1961 SC 493) (supra) in India that a claim development a government run in their name. for immunity against disclosure should be made by the minister who is the political head expenditure in their Apart from taking a step toward a shift of the department concerned or failing him, villages, the poor in the power balance in their favour, the by the secretary of the department and the peasants and workers poor of central Rajasthan, helped by the claim should always be made in the form of have taken a step Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan an affidavit. towards shifting the (MKSS), an organisation of peasants local power balance in and workers active in that area - by their “It is only under the severest compulsion of their favour Public Hearings and a historic agitation the requirement of public interest that the in 1996-97 for a Right to Information court may extend the immunity to any other Legislation in the State of Rajasthan - class or classes of documents and in the con- also effected a significant shift in the dis- text of our commitment to an open govern- course on this subject in India. Hitherto ment with the concomitant right of the citi- in India, the middle class liberal opin- zen to know what is happening in the gov- ion and the Courts too, in the wake of ernment, the court should be reluctant to ex- this country’s experience with pre-cen- pand the classes of documents to which im- sorship during the emergency of 1975- munity may be granted. The court must on 77, had defined the Right to Informa- the contrary move in the direction of attenu- tion as inherent in the fundamental right ating the protected class or classes of docu- to freedom of speech and expression. ments, because by and large secrecy is the The Supreme Court of India best badge of an authoritarian government”. summed it up in the following pro- (SP Gupta vs. Union of India, 1981 nouncement: Supp. SCC 87).

2 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN Beyond this, the MKSS experience has Rajasthan. The NCPRI intends to extend brought home the fact that the people’s the Rajasthan vision across the country Right to Information is essential to the into other areas of governance and basic human right to survival and liveli- policy, also all public spheres including hood, which, the Supreme Court holds, areas abdicated by governments in fa- The Mazdoor Kisan is inherent in the Right to Life and Lib- vour of the Corporate Sector and NGOs Shakti Sangathan erty contained in Article 21 of the Con- in this era of economic liberalisation. experience has stitution. This is the essential linkage A campaign of advocacy by the NCPRI brought home the fact we will explore in the course of this pa- and other groups has effected the pas- that the people’s Right per through the MKSS experience. sage of right to information laws in many to Information is Triggered by this shift in the discourse states and also a national law on the essential to the basic and practice of the people’s Right to subject - even though in nearly all cases, human right to Information by the Rajasthan move- the powers that be have succeeded in survival and ment, the National Campaign for Peo- diluting these enactments through de- livelihood ple’s Right to Information (NCPRI) was liberately left loopholes and have even formed in 1996 following the 40 day sought to restrict the Right to Freedom long historic sit-in strike in Beawar, of Speech and Expression guaranteed a small town in Ajmer District of in the Constitution.

Introduction 3 CHAPTER I

Genesis

This chapter describes the circumstances which led to the formation of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, its early successes and how this led it to re- view the development package in rural India as a whole.

Formally constituted on May Day, while they were looking for a path to 1990, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Social Change beyond the road of rural Sangathan was born out of a land strug- Development taken by SWRC – heav- gle against a feudal landowner of vil- ily subsidised by institutional donors, lage Sohangarh in Deogarh Tehsil of Nikhil Dey, a young man educated in Rajsamand District in central Rajasthan. America came and met them. Bound by Formally constituted Fought indomitably by the villagers, the a common quest, they came to live in on May Day, 1990, the struggle made a close team of activists the hamlet called Devdoongri, near the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti out of a motley group of persons who small highway town of Bhim in Sangathan was born had recently come in contact with each Rajsamand District in 1987 on a small out of a land struggle other. It was around this nucleus of ac- fellowship grant of Rs. 30,000 from the against a feudal tivists that the Sangathan (meaning or- Union Government’s Ministry of Hu- landowner in central ganisation), owned by a large number man Resource Development, to study Rajasthan of people in the area, was formed. Of issues related to the participation of the these, three, namely Aruna Roy, Nikhil poor in the government’s poverty alle- Dey and Shankar Singh knew each viation programmes. Shankar Singh’s other for slightly longer. They had met wife Anshi, along with the couple’s chil- in the Social Work and Research Cen- dren, also joined them, living on a piece tre (SWRC), Tilonia in Ajmer District of household land that belonged to a of central Rajasthan where Aruna Roy relative of Shankar’s. and Shankar Singh worked. This group of three soon established Aruna Roy was a former officer of the contacts in the village and the area elite Indian Administrative Service, around Devdoongri. Among others, the 1968 batch, who quit her job in 1975 contacts included RN Mishra, an Eng- to work with SWRC, a voluntary or- lish teacher at a government school in ganisation founded three years earlier Bhim and local peasants and rural la- by her husband Sanjit Roy, better known bourers like Mot Singh, Chunni Bai, Lal as Bunker Roy. Shankar Singh was a Singh, his mother Bhuriya, Bhanwar local young man and SWRC’s ace home- Singh, Tej Singh, Chunni Singh and sev- spun communicator – barefoot, in eral others. It was through Lal Singh, a SWRC terminology. In the mid 1980s former police constable dismissed for his

4 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN participation in a strike protesting against obliged and parted with the information. the practice of deploying constables as The theme of access to information con- domestic servants in the homes of their tained in government records to help peo- officers, that the opportunity of a com- ple attain other entitlements (or the right mon struggle over land came their way. to information enabling other entitle- Lal Singh belonged to Sohangarh, a vil- ments) was thus innocuously set in mo- lage nearly 12 kms from Bhim and across tion at Sohangarh for the group’s other the highway from Devdoongri. future struggles. Sohangarh lived in terror of Hari Singh, Equipped with relevant information re- ex Jagirdar or feudal Lord of the village garding this patch of the village com- who, despite ceiling laws, still control- mon and, probably, Aruna Roy’s famili- led over 1,500 acres of land. He levied arity with administrative procedures, a personal fine on the villagers for tres- some people from Sohangarh petitioned passing if they grazed their cattle or col- the SDM during his session at the Tal lected firewood from the village com- Panchayat. The SDM ruled that the land The theme of access to mons illegally controlled by him. Lal did not belong to Hari Singh. This information contained Singh, whose grandfather had supplied helped in significantly breaching the in government records milk to Gandhi’s Ashram in Sabarmati, former Jagirdar’s hold on the village, but to help people attain was no stranger to the idea and practice to bring the land directly under the pos- other entitlements (or of common struggle and organisation. session of the local people and not ‘via the right to information He found kindred souls in Aruna, Nikhil the state’, as Rajni Bakshi calls it in her enabling other and Shankar. The villagers were gradu- book Bapu Kutir, required another ma- entitlements) was ally persuaded into challenging Hari noeuvre. There was also the need to take innocuously set in Singh’s sway. care of the divide in Sohangarh between motion at Sohangarh Hari Singh loyalists and those vying to Though the list of Hari Singh’s misde- for the group’s other meanours was long, it was decided to cor- liberate themselves from his feudal grasp. future struggles ner him on a firm basis by identifying a Formation of a women’s cooperative in piece of land in his illegal possession and the village and getting the land allotted getting it out of his control. A window to it for forestation took care of this. of opportunity opened up in the winter Of course, Hari Singh’s henchmen tried of 1988 when news came that the Sub to intimidate the villagers with guns and Divisional Magistrate of the area would swords, but they stood their ground and hold a court in the Panchayat of Tal as finally got possession of the land part of the Prashashan Gaon Ki Ore (vil- through the cooperative. A small forest lage oriented administration) programme stands within an enclosure of barbed of the State government. A 25 hectare wire on that piece of cooperative land patch of the village grazing land was iden- and another adjoining part of the vil- tified for the purpose. But they also lage common under the possession of, needed the Khasra, i.e. the plot number, and jointly managed by, the forest de- and other relevant details of the land from partment. The two adjoining forests to- the Patwari. This is not usually easy, gether bear testimony to the success of but fortunately an exceptional Patwari the Sohangarh struggle.

Genesis 5 The successful Sohangarh struggle and When the Devdoongri team started to later, a struggle for minimum wages at investigate the matter, it seemed at first the Dadi Rapat, formed the nucleus for that there was a problem with the way the formation of the MKSS on May1, the work was measured, for which the 1990 during a rally of around 1000 peo- junior engineer was the sole authority. ple gathered from 27 villages, around The labourers had no say in the matter. Bhim, belonging to Pali, Rajsamand, So it was decided that all 140 workers Bhilwara and Ajmer Districts. The employed on the site should work dili- Sohangarh experience and the mass con- gently, ensure completion of the work tact programme by the core group behind and also carry out their own measure- it had convinced people of the area of ments. Even though the Junior Engineer the need to organise their struggles acknowledged the work was completed against injustice in a formal way. to measure, the wage offered was still With drought-prone, With drought-prone, non-fertile small Rs.6 per day and not Rs.11. In protest, non-fertile small holdings, agriculture is unable to sustain all 140 workers initially refused to ac- holdings, agriculture livelihoods in the central Rajasthan Dis- cept this wage and two among them, is unable to sustain tricts of Ajmer, Bhilwara, Pali and Chunni Bai and Bhanwar Singh, stuck livelihoods in the Rajsamand and the population is mainly it out to the very end. central Rajasthan dependent for survival on the famine Districts and the This non-cooperation and subsequent relief works and other rural develop- population is mainly protests and petitions by workers rattled ment works of the government, carried dependent for survival the local administration till the State out mainly by the Panchayats. Com- on the famine relief Famine Commissioner and an Executive plaints of non-payment of stipulated works and other rural Engineer visited the Dadi Rapat site in minimum wages on these works had development works of April, 1989. The Famine Commissioner started reaching the Devdoongri group the government, acknowledged that the work had been even while the Sohangarh struggle was carried out mainly by done to measure and assured the pay- still on. What happened was that while the Panchayats ment of Rs.11. Yet, despite the Famine the labourers working these sites were Commissioner’s directive, the Irrigation allotted work individually, wages were Department ordered a payment of only paid to them collectively. The labour- Rs.9 per day. The link between corrup- ers on these sites would never get their tion (ghost entries in muster rolls) and full minimum wage for the day’s work non-payment of minimum wages has even though they spent the whole day been explained later on in this paper. It at the work sites. Against a minimum was clear at that time itself that the wage of Rs.11 per day in 1987-88, men workers’ wage entitlement was an issue usually got Rs.7 or 8 per day and women that would not be resolved without a Rs.5 or 6. collective struggle. So a struggle for One such wage complaint concerned minimum wage and against corruption Dadi Rapat, a State irrigation depart- was uppermost in the mind of people ment worksite, where most of the work- who gathered for the formation of ers employed were from Sohangarh. MKSS on May Day of 1990.

6 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN A little later, the MKSS organised a of sorts when the then Rural Develop- Dharna ( a sit in strike) followed by a ment Secretary to the Union Govern- hunger strike in front of the SDM’s of- ment made it clear to the Rajasthan fice. The number of hunger strikers government that it would not get cen- swelled to 17 in six days. It was lifted tral assistance for the Jawahar Rozgar only after the District Collector assured Yojana for violating the Minimum payment of proper wages. When this re- Wages Act of 1948. The State govern- mained a mere assurance on nearly all ment relented and ordered payment of famine work sites in the area, another minimum wage to the 12 Barar work- agitation was launched the next year ers. The victory had an impact on gov- (1991). For this fight, the experience of ernment wages all around the area, The lessons of the 12 labourers of Barar Panchayat was which rose even though minimum first two minimum used as a symbol. They diligently com- wages continued to be denied. wage struggles pleted the work and kept accurate meas- pointed to the need for It was clear to the MKSS from its strug- urement. Still denied appropriate wages, a composite look at gle on minimum wages that the ques- they submitted petitions through proper the whole rural tion of wage and employment entitle- channels and sent notices. development package ment could not be tackled sporadically. on offer in rural India When all else failed, an indefinite hun- The lessons of the first two minimum ger strike was begun in front of the Sub wage struggles pointed to the need for Divisional Magistrate’s office in Bhim, a composite look at the whole rural de- with five persons respectively repre- velopment package on offer in rural In- senting the five districts of Rajsamand, dia. It also pointed out the necessity of Pali, Ajmer, Jaipur and Baran. The po- a novel approach to mass mobilisation lice cracked down on the hunger strike we witness in the form of Jan Sunwais or with full force in the dead of night af- Public Hearings. How this led to the ter five days. The next day another hun- Right to Information movement and a ger strike began against police repres- fight against corruption, has been dealt sion. The strikers finally won a victory with in the next chapter.

Genesis 7 CHAPTER II

The Struggle for Entitlement

This chapter traces the growth of the RTI movement in Rajasthan between 1994, when the Public Hearings began, and 1997, when the entitlement was won in Panchayati Raj Act. It includes the historic dharnas at Beawar and Jaipur, and formation of the NCPRI.

The struggle for ensuring payment of 1994 complaining of manipulation of A peep by MKSS statutory minimum wage on govern- muster rolls and corruption in develop- activists into officially ment employment works by the ment works in Kot Kirana Panchayat of maintained Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan Raipur Block in Pali District. The MKSS measurement books (MKSS) since its inception in 1990 led approached the Block Development Of- and muster rolls directly to the next higher stage in the ficer (BDO) Nirmal Wadhwani, a young revealed that corrupt struggle of the poor in central probationer of the Indian Administra- local officials and Rajasthan. The task-based mode of tive Service with his complaint. The Sarpanches did not determining a rural worker’s wage had BDO conducted an extensive enquiry. fully disburse to the necessitated a peep by MKSS activists He went from village to village and got workers the amount into officially maintained measurement people of the area to look into muster they billed the books and muster rolls that respec- rolls. He crosschecked the vouchers of government as their tively recorded the task performed by the construction work that had been un- wages. They pocketed each worker and the wage paid to her. dertaken in the Panchayat with them. a neat portion of what The examination of these records re- The enquiry exposed the corruption of they billed the vealed that corrupt local officials and the Gram Sewak (Panchayat Secretary) government as wages Sarpanches did not fully disburse to the and the Junior Engineer who had mis- for the labourers workers the amount they billed the appropriated the funds of the centrally government as their wages. They pock- sponsored Desert Development Pro- eted a neat portion of what they billed gramme. Some evidence of their cor- the government as wages for the la- ruption he found was: bourers. There were ghost entries in the l In the construction of the Patwar muster rolls that meant total wage bill Bhawan (revenue building) at Kirana of a particular rural development work (of Kot Kirana Panchayat), no stones was to be divided among more heads were bought. Instead, old stones were than were actually employed for that used from a government building that work. This in turn meant under meas- had been pulled down. Yet, bills show- urement of each labourer’s work and ing the purchase of stones worth Rs. hence under payment of her wage. 7,100 were submitted. Similarly, false It was in this context that an underpaid bills worth Rs. 26, 510 were shown in villager came to the MKSS in August Bagri village of Kalaliya Panchayat.

8 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN l Several irregularities were committed affidavit, he said he had forgotten to in the payment of wages in the con- make entries in his diary as he had prob- struction of Anicuts, Dharam Nadi ably made extra trips in the night to de- at Bagri and Kharli Nadi at Kirana. liver stones. Many persons against whom pay- Then there were three women, Muli, Baji ments were shown or collected by the and Dhau of village Kot, who were en- Gram Sewak and Junior Engineer ei- ticed with money to give an affidavit fal- ther did not live in the village or were sifying their earlier statement. They had employed elsewhere. For instance, the worked on Bagri anicut and were paid Anganwadi worker, the owner of the for five days of work. They were prom- Public Distribution system shop and ised extra money to give affidavits say- the Roadways booking clerk were ing they had worked for eight days. The shown as having worked as labourers women were taken to Barar, a little dis- on development works in the village. tance away place and brought back to l The muster roll for the Bagri anicut their village late in the night after sign- also showed payment to workers for ing false affidavits. This angered the vil- eight days while they had actually lagers as they had left without the per- been paid for five days only. mission of their family members. The people of Kot Kirana Panchayat The BDO’s inquiry indicted Junior En- The people of Kot Kirana Panchayat be- became very angry at gineer Girdhari Singh and the Gram came very angry at this campaign to sup- this campaign to Sewak Sardar Singh of Kot Kirana for press evidence and cover up corruption. suppress evidence corruption. The BDO filed a First In- To take the steam out of their anger, the and cover up formation Report (no. 1619/94-95) on two accused, with the help of Hira Singh corruption 28.9.94 against the two in Sendra Po- Chauhan, approached the Jati Panchas lice Station for forging false accounts (Caste Chieftains) of the villages in the worth fifty eight thousand rupees. The Panchayat. The Jati Panchas called a Jati accused sought to cover up the case with Panchayat (caste assembly) where the ac- the help of the local MLA, Hira Singh cused confessed to the misuse of public Chauhan, who was also a former Deputy funds and begged forgiveness. The Jati Speaker of the State Assembly. These Panchas fined them a paltry sum of Rs. three used money and force to silence 1100 as contribution for the repair of the some of the people who had provided village temple. This was an attempt by the evidence. They also made some of them accused to escape lightly. sign false affidavits backtracking on As far as official and legal proceedings their earlier statements. are concerned, the police did not take For instance, Kaluram Suthar was one any action against either the Junior En- such person who gave a false affidavit gineer or the Gram Sewak. Though the contradicting his earlier statement. district administration suspended the Seized by the BDO, his diary did not Gram Sewak, the Junior Engineer was show delivery of stones on his tractor merely transferred to the neighbouring trolley to the work sites. But later in the Jawaja Panchayat Samiti.

The Struggle for Entitlement 9 It was to counter such blatant attempts works executed in 1993-94 in Kot at cover-up that the MKSS and the peo- Kirana and Bagdi Kalaliya Gram ple of the area thought of a Jan Sunwai Panchayats of Raipur Panchayat Samiti or a Public Hearing as a mode of bring- in Pali District. It was attended mainly ing the matter out into the open or pub- by people from Kot, Samel, Kirana, lic domain, so to speak. The Public hear- Rokabaria, Pipla Khera, Sirma and ing was visualised as a form of Social Dhukulpura villages in Kirana Gram Audit – the ‘best form’, as the MKSS Panchayat and Bagdi, Kalaliya, press note called it – and of public de- Khandabhaga and Belapana villages bate with and among the local villagers and Road Havli, Bhundap, Nahi, on the ‘development’ being carried out Mulyakheda, Samli, Chaukhat, Bhja- for them. The following considerations thala, Banatiya and Bada hamlets in went into this visualisation of the Pub- Kalaliya Gram Panchayat. Presided over lic Hearing: by Social Worker Renuka Pamecha, who teaches political science at Kanodiya l The Gram Sabha was non-functional College in Jaipur, the Public Hearing and in any case would relate to only It was to counter such was attended by Bunker Roy of Social one Gram Panchayat or Village Coun- blatant attempts at Work and Research Centre, Tilonia and cil. But the impact of development cover-up that the Sawai Singh of Samagra Sewa Sangh, works affected adjoining Panchayats MKSS and the people Jaipur. Unlike some later Jan Sunwais, too and relevant information could of the area thought of no government official was present to only be collected through collective a Jan Sunwai or a put forward the official point of view. Public Hearing as a sharing across these adjoining villages. The moment was electric as names of a mode of bringing the l Most of the information pertaining to hundred people on the muster roll (the matter out into the development work in villages was zeal- official record of names, and payments open or public domain ously guarded by government officials made to them, of those employed on a at the Panchayat, Block and District particular site) were read out in public levels. The disclosure of even the before hundreds of people. As an MKSS smallest amount of such information write-up records, “...outraged people to the villagers would result in laying bare the true detailed account of came and testified that they had never money spent as shown by the MKSS gone to those work sites, that false sig- campaign preceding the Jan Sunwai. natures had been used and that there Since people in a village have a were names on the muster rolls of peo- firsthand knowledge and understand- ple dead and gone, and others unheard ing of all development activities in the of. The finger was pointed at the retired village, even a little information shared teacher Moti Singh who had entered the would generate a plethora of data. names, the Gram Sewak who made the payment and the Junior Engineer who Kot Kirana: The First Public had certified that the work was done and Hearing payments made in his presence. The Held on the 2nd of Dec. 1994, the first people fearlessly spoke against the Jan Sunwai looked at small development former Deputy Speaker of the Rajasthan

10 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN Vidhan Sabha, who had camped in the Dec. 7, 1994 - and was presided over village prior to the hearings, intimidat- by a noted progressive poet of ing the villagers to change their state- Rajasthan: Harish Bhadani. This Jan ments against the accused. When bills Sunwai too followed the same process and vouchers of the unfinished Patwar of reading out details from government Ghar were read out, the people learnt records, like bills, vouchers and muster that they had a ‘complete’ Patwar Ghar– rolls, relating to rural development work at least on paper. The bills of roofing and getting people’s feedback on them. material, doors and windows, when read A lot of preparation went into the Jan out elicited a great deal of laughter for Sunwai with MKSS activists, along with there was no roof and there were only the local people, inspecting work sites. holes for doors and windows. When the Among the cases of corruption discov- laughter died down, there was conster- ered in the Bhim Jan Sunwai, one that nation, anger and eventually an official took the cake related to a fraudulent First Information Report (FIR).” The company that had taken payment for The corruption exposure of the role of the retired school false bills. Owned by wives and family revealed in the first master’s son resulted in his losing the members of Block officials, the com- public hearing by election for the Sarpanch’s post a month pany called Bhairunath and Sons was juxtaposing later. He had earlier been considered a formed purely for the purpose of graft. government records strong candidate. In one Block alone, it collected illegal and facts available A Pattern Unfolds payments worth Rs. 36 lakh. People with the people and spoke out freely in the Jan Sunwai, un- actual work on the The corruption revealed in the first pub- deterred by the fact that it was held in ground established lic hearing by juxtaposing government front of the Block Office. Like the Kot itself as a firm pattern records and facts available with the peo- Kirana Jan Sunwai, the Collector and in the four Jan ple and actual work on the ground es- other government officials honoured Sunwais that followed tablished itself as a firm pattern in the their invitation by their absence, except soon after four Jan Sunwais that followed soon af- for the Tehsildar, who stayed for just ter. In fact, taken together, the five Jan an hour. Sunwais, especially the first four, formed a quick campaign of Social Audit in the The Jan Sunwai examined development four Central Rajasthan districts of Pali, works in Bhim and Kaladeh Panchayats Rajsamand, Ajmer and Bhilwara. The of Bhim Panchayat Samiti in Rajsa- first four public hearings were held be- mand District. These included works tween the short period of Dec. 1994- under Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, Apna Jan.1995. The fifth one followed soon Gaon Apna Kaam, Tees Zila Tees after in April, 1995 and provided a wel- Kaam, Untied Fund, Indira Awas come contrast. Yojana, Jeewan Dhara, Famine Relief Bhim: The Second Public Works and Training Rural Youth for Self Hearing Employment schemes. Though situated close to the Sub Divisional town of The Bhim Jan Sunwai followed within Bhim, the two Panchayats did not lag a week of the first public hearing – on behind in corruption. Apart from the

The Struggle for Entitlement 11 huge graft by the fraudulent company, formed the basis of an FIR against the some of the other cases of corruption false company with the Anti-Corruption exposed in the Jan Sunwai were: department. But no action was taken on any of the other complaints of irregu- l In violation of rules, 15 works in larities in the two Panchayats, nor was Kaladeh Panchayat were given out any supervisory responsibility fixed on on contract. The contractors em- the Assistant Engineer and the District ployed their own kith and kin on Rural Development Authority. The Pub- these works. Even amongst them, lic Hearing was held with a view to ex- many were cheated of their wages. pose the fraud to the public. Muster rolls were fraudulently main- tained. Physical verification showed Vijaypura: The Third Jan many works to be incomplete and Sunwai others, even though complete, were Nearly 500 villagers from the seven lo- ready to fall apart. An examination of cal Panchayats of Vijaypura, Tal, bills and material used in the works Lasani, Aldas Ka Guda, Swadari, Miyala revealed them to be false and sub- and Diwer were all attention as Ang- standard respectively. anwadi workers of the Integrated Child Physical verification l In the Indira Awas Yojana, out of 52 Development Scheme narrated a scam showed many works to houses sanctioned for the Bhim involving their two supervisors. These be incomplete and Panchayat Samiti, 45 went to just one two, the Anganwadi workers said, had others, even though Panchayat – Kaladeh. In this Pan- taken bribes, stolen rations, pilfered complete, were ready chayat, many relatively well-to-do cotton, buckets, chairs, tables, dhurries to fall apart villagers managed to corner many of and even the paracetamol tablets meant these houses and every poor allotee for the villagers. The villagers made a had to pay a bribe for allotment. A quick calculation and estimated the man called Ratna testified that he re- graft to total around Rs. 14 lakhs dur- ceived only Rs. 1800 out of Rs. 7800 ing a four year period. shown as payment to him. Held on Dec, 17, 1994, the third Jan l Different muster rolls in Bhim and Sunwai at Vijaypura in Deogarh Block Kaladeh showed the same names on of Rajsamand District also exposed a same days. fraudulent public auction where the Panchayat pasture worth over Rs. 70 A First Information Report regarding the lakhs had been auctioned off dirt cheap. irregularities detected in the Jan Sunwai The villagers testified that none of the was lodged with the Bhim police. 800 people supposed to have attended Following an agitation launched by the the public auction had actually done so MKSS in June, 1994 the Rajasamand although many of their signatures had Collector had ordered an enquiry by the been forged to show attendance. None Chief Executive Officer of the District of the government officials concerned into the affairs of the fraudulent com- were present to offer their viewpoint al- pany. The result of the CEO’s enquiry though Aditi Mehta, a Rajasthan cadre

12 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN IAS officer attended in her personal ca- this system, the Gram Sewaks could not pacity. Lokayan Editor and socialist ac- simply let the things go the way they tivist Vijay Pratap presided. Apart from were heading. When the Block Devel- the villagers of seven nearby opment Officer of Masuda issued a let- Panchayats, people from as far as Bhim, ter to make copies of Panchayat records Raipur and Kukra in Rajsamand District available to MKSS activists on asking, and Jawaja and Silora from Ajmer Dis- the Gram Sewaks struck swiftly and re- trict also attended the Public Hearing. fused to comply with it. The Gram After the Jan Sunwai, an FIR was lodged Sewaks of Ajmer District organised a in the land auction scam. An adminis- delegation to meet the Collector on trative inquiry into the Anganwadi ir- Dec. 22, within six days of the third Jan regularities was also conducted indict- Sunwai. They gave him a memorandum ing the supervisors. demanding to be exempted from shar- Jawaja Jan Sunwai: Battle Lines ing with the people information and What had started out records related to development works for Right to Information as a quick campaign and affairs of the Panchayat. They of Social Audit of A qualitative change occurred between pressed hard with this demand by a Development the third Jan Sunwai on Dec.17, 1994 staging a Dharna or a sit-in strike in front Expenditure at the at Vijaypura and the fourth Jan Sunwai of the Ajmer District Collector’s office Panchayat level at Jawaja in Ajmer District on Jan. 7, on Jan. 2, 1995. Rather than share cop- through four planned 1995. What had started out as a quick ies of bills, vouchers and muster rolls Public hearings, campaign of Social Audit of Develop- maintained by Panchayats of rural de- began etching the ment Expenditure at the Panchayat level velopment works, the Gram Sewaks – battle lines for a through four planned Public hearings, keepers of these records – of Ajmer Dis- prolonged fight for began etching the battle lines for a pro- trict decided to go on strike. They said people’s right to longed fight for people’s right to infor- they were prepared only to submit these information during the mation during the run-up to the fourth records for government audit. run-up to the fourth Jan Sunwai. As the Gram Sewaks hardened their Jan Sunwai As MKSS activists, armed with the or- stand, people of the area began saying ders of the Ajmer District Collector to that by doing this the petty Panchayat make available to them copies of docu- officials were merely confirming their ments relating to development expendi- complicity in corruption. Reading these ture, went around seeking records of grassroots signals, the Gram Sewaks development works in the Panchayats became even more alarmed – not only of the area, the Gram Sewaks or in Ajmer District, but from one end of Panchayat Secretaries got alarmed. They the State to the other. So much so, that had already got wind of the three pre- a delegation of the Gram Sewak Sangh ceding Jan Sunwais, the electric effect or the association of the Gram Sewaks they had on the people of the area and in the State met the Development Com- the portent of this process for the fu- missioner of Rajasthan to protest ture of a system of scams that rural de- against being asked to share informa- velopment had become. As a key cog in tion, even though the Jawaja Public

The Struggle for Entitlement 13 Hearing was meant to cover only seven by the Gram Sewak Sangh and on the Panchayats of one Block. More than the other by the MKSS, the Ajmer District people’s action, therefore, in holding Collector referred the matter to the State local Jan Sunwais in central Rajasthan, Government for a decision. By this act, it was the reaction of Panchayat Secre- he unwittingly brought to a head for the taries that transformed the demand for Rajasthan Government the twin issues transparency of development expendi- of People’s Right to Information and the ture at the local level into a statewide Social Audit of development expendi- issue of people’s Right to Information. ture – something to be fought out and debated between the people and the Even though people’s access to official three tiers of government at the local, records relating to rural development State and national level in the next expenditure was effectively blocked, the On April 6, 1995, a few years. prominent regional Jawaja Public Hearing did take place daily of the State, on Jan. 7. The people from seven Populist But Catalytic Dainik Navjyoti, Panchayats came up with a plethora of Announcement information. The sheer authenticity of carried the report of Soon after the Jawaja Jan Sunwai, the the people’s information proved so the then Chief MKSS wrote to the government de- strong that within two days of the hear- Minister Bhairon manding that information should be ing, pilfered money began to be returned Singh Shekhawat’s available to everyone. In its letter, the to individuals and the community who announcement in the MKSS also threatened to launch a State Assembly, had been cheated squarely by the statewide agitation if the government made the previous Panchayat functionaries. For instance, succumbed to the pressure of the Gram day, promising give to five Dalit families of Jalia Peethawas, Sewaks and accepted their demand of the people of the State who had testified in the Jawaja Public being exempted from showing records Right to Information Hearing that their Gram Sewak had pertaining to rural development ex- with respect to all the taken a cut of Rs.1500 from each of penditure. The MKSS did not receive affairs of the them from their Indira Awas housing an official reply. Panchayati Raj grant of Rs.9800 each, got the amount Institutions back within 48 hours of the hearing. The Yet, on April 6, 1995, a prominent re- Gram Sewak visited them at home to gional daily of the State, Dainik return the money. Navjyoti carried the report of the then Attended by a panel of three senior law- Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekha- yers – Marudhar Mridul and Mahesh Bora wat’s announcement in the State Assem- from Jodhpur and Ramesh Nandwana bly, made the previous day. The an- from Udaipur – and a theatre person, nouncement promised to give to the people of the State Right to Informa- Tripurari Sharma from National School tion with respect to all the affairs of the of Drama in Delhi, the Jan Sunwai also resolved to launch a mass agitation for Panchayati Raj Institutions. The an- nouncement promised access to copies of bills, vouchers and muster rolls of rural development ex- l Transparency regarding development penditure as part of the people’s Right works carried out by Panchayati Raj to Information. Pressurised on one side Institutions since 1990

14 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN l Access to photocopies of bills, Thana Public Hearing: A vouchers and muster rolls and other Welcome Contrast records related to rural development Not forming part of the quick campaign expenditure on payment of photo- of four preceding Public Hearings, the copying charges context of the Jan Sunwai at Thana in l Instituting an enquiry wherever fraud Mandel Block of Bhilwara District was was detected. different. Held on April 25, 1995, it was separated from the four preceding Pub- l Punishment to the guilty and recov- ery of embezzled funds. lic Hearings by the Panchayat elections and the Chief Minister’s announcement It was only a year later, on the eve of on the Right to Information that took their 40 day sit-in strike in April, 1996 place in the meantime. In fact, Chief that the MKSS could obtain a copy of Minister Shekhawat’s announcement too the Chief Minister’s announcement. In probably had a political motive: it was fact, it was Shekhawat’s announce- accompanied by a threat to the previ- It remained ment in the State Assembly that ous Congress Sarpanchs that the gov- impossible for citizens spurred the MKSS on to a campaign ernment would make all efforts to re- to obtain information that finally led to the Passage of the cover embezzled funds if charges of cor- at the District, Block Right to Information Act in the State ruption were proved against them. The and Village levels. nearly five years later. It started with unsaid message seemed clear: play ball For the MKSS, this the MKSS submitting a host of peti- or face the music. resulted in the tions to the State government and its realisation that it was delegations meeting several secretar- It was against this background that the absolutely essential ies of the Rajasthan government for Thana Jan Sunwai became the first pub- to obtain the Right to translation of the Chief Minister’s an- lic hearing to be conducted with the ac- nouncement into something concrete tive support of the elected Panchayat Information for citizens – a legislation or executive orders. functionaries – in this case the newly Despite these efforts, though, the an- elected Sarpanch and the other elected nouncement remained merely on pa- Panchayat representatives. An active per. MKSS activists found government member of the MKSS till then, the newly officials and elected representatives elected Sarpanch of Thana, Ladu Singh stalling all their efforts. It remained conducted the Hearing. Despite the impossible for citizens to obtain infor- Constitutional mandate of the 73rd mation at the District, Block and Vil- Amendment, the newly made Right to lage levels. For the MKSS, this resulted Information announcement of the in the realisation that it was absolutely Chief Minister and the order given, per- essential to obtain the Right to Infor- taining to this intent, by the Bhilwara mation for citizens rather than depend collector to the Mandel Block office, on favours from one or two well- Ladu Singh still had difficulty in getting inten-tioned officials if the people hold of the records relating to develop- wanted to monitor and exercise con- ment expenditure in his Panchayat trol over development expenditure in- during the past five years. It was only curred in their name. because of persistent pressure applied The Struggle for Entitlement 15 by the MKSS that the Mandel Block of- of labour-material ratio set by the gov- fice agreed to part with some informa- ernment (60:40) with regard to devel- tion in its possession on the night be- opment works carried out under the fore the hearing. various poverty alleviation programmes The Public Hearing on April 25, 1995 had to be met, necessitating fudging of revealed the reasons for the administra- records as these norms no longer re- tion’s reluctance to share information mained practical. It took the people with the people. For the first time the present in the Jan Sunwai only a single government officials were present in a testimony to expose the fallacy of the Public Hearing. Some villagers present argument. As a speaker in the Public in the Hearing, who were also benefici- Hearing pointed out, the false bills in aries of some development programme, question related to material and not asked the Junior Engineer and the Gram labour which would have needed ‘ad- justment’. Inflated material bills, villag- Without fearing the Sewak, who came on stage, pointedly ers pointed out, would only further de- consequences, even about the bribes they had taken from stroy the government norms. government them. In the records of various construc- employees like the tion works executed in the Gram When cornered thus and in many other village school teacher, Panchayat in the previous years, people ways in the Thana Jan Sunwai, the the dispensary peon caught false bills and vouchers of the Gram Sewak admitted that the ‘adjust- and the Patwari spoke material used. Without fearing the con- ments’ were made to pilfer money. He out openly in the sequences, even government employees also admitted his own guilt in the mat- presence of the Block like the village school teacher, the dis- ter and offered to return whatever he Development Officer pensary peon and the Patwari spoke out had taken. This aspect of the Thana to validate the facts openly in the presence of the Block Public Hearing also confirmed and es- showing misuse and Development Officer to validate the tablished a theme witnessed in the ear- misappropriation of facts showing misuse and misappropria- lier Jan Sunwais and to be found in the development funds tion of development funds. later Jan Sunwais too: the popular de- An interesting debate relating to the so mand for the return of the money sto- called ‘adjustment’ in development ex- len from the village community or in- penditure records ensued in the Thana dividuals and the public shame that Public Hearing and became a dominant sometimes forced public functionaries, theme in bureaucratic arguments at the elected or permanent, to bow to it. But highest level in the State in the course time revealed an irony at Thana: the of the Right to Information Campaign MKSS was forced to disown the in the next few years as the main argu- Sarpanch Ladu Singh later for his asso- ment against complete transparency in ciation with some organisation work- development expenditure. The Offi- ers who were found to have pilfered cials present in the Jan Sunwai justi- money from a shop that the MKSS ran fied the documented instances of cor- under the Public Distribution System ruption on the ground that the norms of the government.

16 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN First Phase of Hearings: Pattern and power, legitimacy and sanctity from Pointers the villagers themselves and not the distinction of the panel. The panel, con- The average attendance in each Public sisting of lawyers, jurists, writers, intel- Hearing was between 500 and 800, of lectuals and other such people, merely which half were women. The MKSS provided a link, like the press, with the mobilisation efforts for Public Hearings enlightened urban intelligentsia and lent succeeded to this extent possibly be- seriousness to the Jan Sunwai proceed- cause of two factors: ings - for the local community and the l Wages - their non-payment or under- outside world. Yet it is important to re- payment - are vital issues for the vil- member that these Jan Sunwais were not lage poor. Poverty Alleviation and Courts or Tribunals nor a public rally to Drought Relief Programmes of the agitate for a set of demands. government are the main sources of These events drew their name from the employment in the villages of central Public Hearings held in other parts of Rajasthan. These programmes and the country in the recent past, but dif- Panchayati Raj Institutions did not fered from them in an important way. provide effective fora for the poor to The other Public Hearings had mostly seek redress of wage-related griev- The MKSS Public been held in urban settings and were ances, hence the idea of a public fo- hearings expressly modeled on the parameters of a court. rum for voicing complaints aroused aimed at a Social They drew their legitimacy and sanctity their enthusiasm. Since women form Audit of development from the distinction of the panel and the major part of the work force in resources and aimed at eliciting a cross-section of in- these programmes and wage-related expenditure tellectual responses on a topic of com- grievances were as much theirs, they mon concern. too were equally enthusiastic about the hearings. The MKSS Public hearings expressly aimed at a Social Audit of development l The rural middle class, who are not resources and expenditure. They were direct beneficiaries of government organised around a cluster of four to five delivery schemes, were able to see Panchayats in this phase because devel- the link between corruption in de- opment work in one Panchayat had an velopment works and the absence or impact on others and a collective shar- low quality of infrastructure in their ing of information in such a cluster was villages. A little persuasion made required to reach fruitful conclusions. them acknowledge their responsibil- Certain aspects of mobilisation were in- ity in ensuring that development herent in the nature of these Jan Sunwais. funds were properly spent and that Since persons identified as pilferers were there was need for them to play an often neighbours or relatives of resi- active role in the development of dents in any village, it was important to their village. have each testimony collectively veri- An important characteristic of these fied. For this, it was necessary to have hearings was that they derived their large groups of people attend from each

The Struggle for Entitlement 17 nearby village rather than a scattered began to be compared. The records and population from a vast area. the reality.” The MKSS document further says, “As the story of the gap be- In selecting villages for Public Hearings, tween the two unfolded at the hearing, the MKSS insisted that the initiative the people began to understand the need came from a persistent group of people and value of tools for increasing their from the village. As a run-up to the Pub- control over processes.” lic Hearing, though, the MKSS made extensive contacts in the villages con- The Public Hearing proceedings were cerned for collecting and sharing infor- meticulously documented on video. mation, identifying issues, and motivat- This served the twin purposes of ing people to come. Before each Public undeniability and safety against mis- Hearing, the MKSS circulated a leaflet representation. The process of record- explaining the idea behind it and encap- ing also put each speaker in the Hear- sulating its key concerns. As the MKSS activists ings under a sort of oath as they knew went around villages A Social Audit requires details of infor- this material could be referred to later. sharing copies of the mation pertaining to the expenditure on, The state of development works re- bills, vouchers and and use of, resources. The preparatory ferred to in the Hearing was recorded, muster rolls of work for a Public Hearing includes or- verifying the personal testimonies of construction works, ganising this information and sharing it the people. people were seized with the village people. This process has The local, regional and metropolitan with instant curiosity an electrifying effect on the community. newspapers widely reported these Hear- and flocked around As the MKSS activists went around vil- ings. This resulted in the advocacy of them. Word of the lages sharing copies of the bills, vouch- the issues concerned on a far wider scale. fraud revealed ers and muster rolls of construction And it also gave the village people a through these works, people were seized with instant sense of being significant players in the documents would curiosity and flocked around them. Word struggle for justice. Between the four spread quickly of the fraud revealed through these Hearings, three meetings were held with documents would spread quickly. The concerned citizens in Udaipur, Jaipur local vested interests would move and Bhim respectively. By sharing ex- quickly to try and contain the damage periences in these meetings, the MKSS and prevent the Hearing. Yet, as the in- networked to build a support group in formation spread, it would become in- cities that would provide help in the case creasingly clear that people from a cross- of any problem. The question of trans- section of society were ready to attend parency in administration and corrup- the Public Hearing, come what may, in tion appealed to the urban intelligentsia certain cases even when some state level and helped establish issues of people’s political leader was backing the group Right to Information and Social Audit. hostile to the Hearing. As the results of the Public Hearings It was the same story in every Public concerned the implementation of the Hearing: it “transferred meaningless fig- government poverty alleviation pro- ures into actual reality,” says an MKSS grammes, the findings were presented to document, “as two types of information the senior State and central government

18 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN officials and action demanded in cases who will present the accounts and what of fraud and other misdemeanour. factors would be examined, and

The Jan Sunwais gave shape to certain l The Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha must demands relating to transparency in ru- have the power to enforce corrective ral development programmes: action in case of corruption and fraud. l The administration should print docu- If transparency was one important is- ments like the Below Poverty Line lists sue raised by these Public Hearings, ac- and make them available to the pub- countability was another. In the con- lic at a price. text of accountability, the initial Pub- lic Hearings threw up certain important l The District Rural Development Au- requirements: thority should make available to the public computer print-outs of quar- l It should be clearly indicated which terly, half yearly and annual sanctions official is accountable to provide the and expenditure related to Poverty Al- beneficiaries of Poverty Alleviation leviation programmes. Programmes with their entitlements. These initial Public Hearings were l Photocopies of bills, vouchers and l There should be an appellate author- premised on the muster rolls of rural development ity for complaints related to develop- formulation, and also works should be made available on ment works in villages. succeeded in demand to citizens on payment of l Recovery of funds must be a part of establishing it, that fees. the punitive action against those re- any money, meant for l Printed copies of allotment lists of sponsible for embezzlement. development, taken Panchayat and Revenue land should away by graft denied l Grievances should be addressed and be made available to citizens on pay- the village people disposed of in a specific time period. ment of a fee. their right to l A grievance cell should be set up, con- development The Jan Sunwai showed that a Gram sisting of eminent and concerned citi- Sabha/Ward Sabha (statutory village zens of the area to oversee all such assembly) could be an ideal forum for complaints. Social Audit of rural development ex- penditure and, through this, a tool of These initial Public Hearings were prem- fighting corruption at the grassroots ised on the formulation, and also suc- level. For this Social Audit function of ceeded in establishing it, that any money, a Gram Sabha or village assembly to be meant for development, taken away by effective, these initial Jan Sunwais graft denied the village people their right showed that to development. In this way the hear- ings became an attempt to reclaim de- l The accounts must be read out to the velopment. This was instrumental in assembly in a detailed and systematic forging a convergence of interests, which manner, gave a Public Hearing “a sense of power l The procedure of the social audit beyond its immediate attendance,” says should be clearly laid down, including an MKSS document. The strong demand

The Struggle for Entitlement 19 for ethics in public expenditure gener- In the Jawaja Jan Sunwai, Kesar Singh ated a great deal of energy in an other- of Baghmal village had raised the mat- wise cynical environment. ter of corruption in Asan, Badakhaan and Badakheera Gram Panchayats of The idea born in these Hearings that Jawaja Block in Ajmer District. He had people had a right to monitor public ex- supplied material for nine construction penditure and development work in their works during 1991-93 in these three area was simple, but revolutionary. It Panchayats, but had received only part was far-reaching in its promise of a more payments. As the MKSS put pressure for democratic form of governance than the records of these construction works people were hitherto used to. The idea to be made public and an inquiry con- of public monitoring that emerged, even ducted to determine the extent of cor- though confined only to the specific and ruption in them, the Gram Sewak, the limited area of public spending, had the potential to encompass all areas of gov- Junior Engineer and the newly elected ernance and development. Sarpanches and Panchayat Samiti mem- The idea of public bers got together and tried to pressurise monitoring that The concept of the people’s Right to In- the Ajmer District administration into emerged, even formation as a basic democratic right, not giving in to these demands. They also including aspects of transparency, so- though confined only tried to tempt Kesar Singh with money to the specific and cial audit and accountability, had for a and pressurise him through a caste limited area of public long time been discussed in urban semi- panchayat into withdrawing his com- nar rooms, but this new initiative by or- spending, had the plaint. Despite all this, and because of potential to dinary people at the grassroots energised the public agitation on the issue, the encompass all areas the discourse and also energised the peo- Ajmer Collector ordered an inquiry by ple into an unprecedented public action of governance and the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Beawar development in the direction of realising this right. into all the nine construction works. Follow Up of the Jan Sunwais The SDM came to Asan on June 6, and the Backlash 1995. In an unprecedented show of Following the end of the campaign of solidarity, 25 newly elected Sarpanches Jan Sunwais, the MKSS pressed for ac- and ex-Sarpanches led by the Jawaja countability in the cases of corruption Block Pradhan Shankar Singh Rawat highlighted in them. Alarmed by the also descended on the village in droves response of the Jan Sunwais and the of Maruti cars and motorbikes to in- MKSS determination to follow things timidate the villagers from giving tes- through till the end and see those re- timony and thwart the inquiry. As soon sponsible for corruption held account- as the SDM arrived, they surrounded able and punished, the vested interests the 250 strong gathering. When Chunni in the region cemented their nexus - Singh, an MKSS activist, of Badkochra especially the lower level government Panchayat started speaking about the bureaucracy and elected representa- Jawaja Block administration being tives of the people. A backlash inevi- insensitive to the grievances of the tably followed. villagers, Narbada Bai, the woman

20 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN Sarpanch of Asan, brandished her slip- then member of the State Assembly from pers gesturing him to keep quiet. When Beawar and the Member of Parliament this did not silence him, she attacked from Ajmer, Ugamraj Mehta and Rasa him and tore his shirt. The meeting was Singh Rawat respectively and several disrupted for a while, but the SDM ministers of the State government. In a moved from the open into the meeting of the 20 point programme Panchayat Bhawan nearby and com- committee in the Ajmer collectorate on pleted the day’s proceedings. August 20, 1995, they lashed out at the MKSS, the concept of transparency and The elected Panchayati Raj representa- the inquiry being conducted. The Zila tives who had gathered in Asan in soli- Pramukh even said that he was issuing darity had nothing to do with the mat- orders that no documents relating to ter at hand. Yet the subtle shift in power Panchayati Raj work be shown to any- that the MKSS campaign was engineer- one. The Beawar MLA and the ing in favour of the ordinary citizens in Rajasthan Panchayati Raj minister al- villages, had scared them into this sort leged that the MKSS was collecting peo- of desperate action. All of them and the ple by distributing money and was for- President of the District Gram Sewak cibly snatching muster rolls from gov- Sangh hung around outside the ernment functionaries. Share in the loot for Panchayat Bhawan till the inquiry was everybody involved over and handed a memorandum to the A couple of days later, on August 7, and kinship were SDM refusing share information with the about 50 people from Asan went to pro- important elements in people and threatening to stop develop- vide further evidence in the inquiry. An- the operative nexus ment work if the administration con- gered by this, one Kalla Ram, a ‘mate’ ducted such probes. (a person who heads a team of labour- ers) whose name had figured in corrup- Share in the loot for everybody involved tion, attacked, with the help of two ac- and kinship were important elements in complices, three young Dalit men, Mangi the operative nexus witnessed in this Lal, Purna Ram and Bher Ram, who had case. Sarpanch Narbada Bai’s husband, deposed against him and beat them up the ex-Sarpanch of Asan, was the with lathis. When the villagers reached brother-in-law of the Gram Sewak Jeth the place, Kalla Ram locked them up in Singh and the supplier of material in the his house. On the basis of a complaint nine construction works in question. from the MKSS an FIR was lodged with Undeterred by all this, the Beawar SDM the Todgarh police station and the two continued the inquiry, which he con- attackers finally arrested. Needless to ducted in two phases. He returned to say in this background, the SDM’s in- Asan after a while to collect more evi- quiry report went on the back burner. dence. But the Jawaja Block officials too No action was taken on it till April 5, kept up the pressure on the District ad- 1996 on the eve of the Beawar Dharna ministration to scuttle the probe, enlist- when the SDM lodged an FIR against ing the support of the Zila Pramukh, the the Sarpanch in this case.

The Struggle for Entitlement 21 Stepping Up the Campaign for issue engaging everybody’s attention Right to Information locally in central Rajasthan was con- cerned – that of transparency in devel- With the backlash against the MKSS opment expenditure – many elected rep- campaign in the area gathering strength, resentatives of Panchayati Raj Institu- the need to step up the campaign to tions who had come from other parts of counter it effectively became quite Rajasthan, said that even they did not clear. In the meantime, the campaign, have full access to such information. though focused locally had attracted attention at the state and central levels. In the meantime, the articulation of the This was also because of the active net- Right to Information issue by the MKSS working efforts of the MKSS. through its Jan Sunwais had galvanised its network of friends elsewhere. The It was a mass meeting in Beawar on Sep- main MKSS spokesperson Aruna Roy, tember 25, 1995 that publicly marked a former officer of the Indian Adminis- the stepping up of the campaign to make trative Service, had once passed through the right to information a legal entitle- the portals of the Lal Bahadur Shastri ment of the people. For the first time in It was a mass meeting Academy of Administration in the course of the campaign, more than in Beawar on Mussoorie on her way to becoming an September 25, 1995 two thousand people, mostly poor peas- administrator. Now, during the course of ants and workers from villages all over that publicly marked the Public Hearings she helped organ- Rajasthan, gathered and made this de- the stepping up of the ise in central Rajasthan as a citizen ac- campaign to make the mand. More than 30 speakers, speaking tivist, the same Academy invited her on behalf of workers, representatives right to information a and her colleagues, along with other in- of mass organisations and voluntary or- legal entitlement of dividuals from different professional the people ganisations, ex-bureaucrats, journalists, backgrounds, to deliberate on opera- doctors, intellectuals, trade unionists, tionalising people’s Right to Informa- and elected representatives of tion. These deliberations culminated in Panchayati Raj Institutions lent their the framing of the first draft of a bill on support to the demand. the subject, produced non-officially, fol- From transparency in development ex- lowing a meeting in the Academy in penditure, the meeting widened the ar- Oct., l995. ticulation to include various other as- Beawar Dharna pects. Many speakers referred to the need for transparency in fields like health Despite ground level noises by the services provided by the State, contra- MKSS and the attendant lobbying and ceptive technologies, the role of networking at the macro level, there was transnational corporations in the era of little movement in the Rajasthan gov- a liberalised economy and its impact on ernment towards operationalising the poor, the impact of large projects Shekhawat’s announcement of 5th April, on oustees, land records, matters related 1995. On 6th April 1996 – a year and a to the government as employer and big- day after the Chief Minister’s announce- ger matters of State policy. As far as the ment in the State Assembly – the MKSS

22 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN started an indefinite dharna or sit-in The vegetable vendors gave vegetables strike in Beawar to press for its imple- free and flower sellers contributed their mentation. The Dharna was preceded by small earnings. A retired sweeper came the MKSS issuing a notice to the State unfailingly every morning at 5.30 to of- government on April 2. With the parlia- fer his services to keep the Dharna mentary elections at hand, the canopy clean and make his daily contri- Shekhawat government tried to show a bution of Rs. 5. A disabled young man swift response. It issued an order on the came every day to contribute Rs.10. first day of the Dharna itself, giving citi- These small donations amounted to zens the right to inspect all documents Rs.46,000 in 40 days of the Dharna. The relating to development works executed surrounding villages gave 20 quintals of by the Panchayat bodies. Not fully sat- wheat. The people donated six quintals isfied with the order as it did not meet of vegetables and several trolleys of fuel the demand for granting the right to ob- wood. And there was the occasional tain photocopies of such documents, the donation supply of free milk, jaggery, MKSS continued with the Dharna. rice, dal and spices. The tent house low- It was a Dharna quite unlike those that ered its rent by half and the photogra- phers charged nothing for their services. The vitality of the the small town of Beawar had so far wit- Dharna soon nessed. Here was a big group of poor Doctors volunteered their services and embraced the whole villagers not raising any sectarian de- towards the end even policemen began town and the mands but demanding a right for the so- donating small amounts individually. magnitude, relevance ciety as a whole. More than half of the The town of Beawar offered more than and simplicity of the 250 people whom the town saw on the mere material support. A professional issue struck the local streets for the first four days of the Bhajan Mandali (group of devotional citizens Dharna at Chang Gate were women, singers) would come regularly to sing some with babies in their laps. These bhajan (devotional song) parodies lend- poor people came with bags of grain ing support to the dharna cause and donated for the Dharna by people in taunting the State government for ignor- various villages of the area. People in ing the voice of the people. Bagpipers the Dharna did not just sit around idly. came to play their bagpipes in support The Dharna was alive with songs, pup- of the Dharna, local poets came to re- pet shows, street plays or talks, continu- cite poems they had composed in sup- ously communicating the message of the port of the agitation, sign painters agitation. The vitality of the Dharna painted banners free and almost every soon embraced the whole town and the social, political and cultural organisation magnitude, relevance and simplicity of of the town wrote to the Chief Minister the issue struck the local citizens. Beawar in support of the Dharna demands. The too, then, extended its wholehearted sup- Beawar citizenry actively participated in port and solidarity to the Dharna. the public meetings addressed at the The people of Beawar started throng- Dharna site by eminent guest speakers ing the Dharna site. They made small and townsfolk marched with the villag- cash contributions of Rs.5 and Rs.11. ers whenever a procession was taken out

The Struggle for Entitlement 23 from the Dharna site to present a memo- hitherto considered to be the concern randum to the local administration. The mainly of the urban intelligentsia. Dharna also became Beawar’s own. The way the agitation articulated the The local cadres of various trade un- Right to Information caught the imagi- ions, except the Bhartiya Mazdoor nation of the outside world. It was the Sangh that was affiliated to the then enabling nature of this right for the re- ruling party in the State, gave unstinted alisation of the socio-economic rights support to the MKSS agitation. Local of the community and for fighting cor- units of All India Trade Union Congress ruption that the Beawar Dharna elo- and Centre for Indian Trade Unions, the quently articulated. The Jansatta editor two left Trade Unions, even held a rally Prabhas Joshi summed it up beautifully against the government’s silence on the in a signed article, “Janana Jine Ke Liye MKSS demands. That year the MKSS (The Right to Know is the Right to celebrated May Day in Beawar jointly Live)”. The Mainstream Editor Nikhil with the non BMS trade unions. Chakravarty saw in this movement of the ordinary villagers in central Except for the BJP, the party that ruled Rajasthan the seeds of another national With widespread the State at that time, all other major liberation struggle. Thanks to the na- media coverage, the political parties voiced public support tional Hawala Scam and various other Beawar Dharna soon locally to the Dharna demands. It was big scams in many states, it was the year attracted a host of the run-up to the parliamentary elections of cynicism in Indian politics. eminent personalities that year and local Lok Sabha candidates from other parts of the of all political parties but the BJP com- The Beawar Dharna drew widespread country who came to mitted themselves publicly in support support from various Non Government extend their solidarity of the MKSS demands. Organisations and mass based struggle groups in Rajasthan. To add more punch With widespread media coverage, the to its campaign, the MKSS began a si- Beawar Dharna soon attracted a host of multaneous Dharna near the Secretariat eminent personalities from other parts in the State capital of Jaipur at the end of the country who came to extend their of 30 days of the Beawar sit-in. This solidarity. They included grand old men brought the campaign knocking at the of Indian journalism like Nikhil gates of the State government even as Chakravarty, Kuldip Nayyar, Ajit the election process for the Lok Sabha Bhattacharjee and Prabhash Joshi, activ- inched to a close. Finally, the State gov- ists like Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh, ernment had to relent somewhat. After Vijay Pratap, Bhanwari Devi and Anil more than five weeks of relentless agi- Prakash, and eminent personalities from tation by the MKSS, the State govern- the varied realms of economics, theatre ment announced that it would set up a and even administration, including the five member committee under the then redoubtable GR Khairnar, the munici- Additional Chief Secretary Arun Kumar pal administrator from Mumbai. The out- to suggest ways to implement the Chief siders were greatly impressed. Here were Minister’s announcement on the Right poor villagers fighting for an entitlement to Information made in the State

24 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN Assembly more than a year earlier. The l Where no photocopying facilities State government’s announcement made are available in Panchayat Samitis through a press release issued on 14th and Gram Panchayat offices, hand- May 1996 also set a deadline of two written certified true copies of the months for the committee to submit its above mentioned documents should report. After running for 40 days in be provided. Beawar and 10 days in Jaipur, the Dharna l The photocopy machines should be was lifted on 16th May. installed by the government or by the Secrecy of the Report on Right private sector. This should be ac- to Information corded priority at the Panchayat Samiti level. It took two months for the State gov- ernment to constitute the Arun Kumar l The person entitled to obtain certi- Committee, which finally submitted its fied photocopies, or handwritten cer- report on 31st August 1996. One of the tified true copies, of the muster rolls, terms of reference of the Committee bills and vouchers related to public The Arun Kumar was to look into the feasibility of pro- works at the Panchayat Samitis and Committee felt that viding photocopies of documents to the the Gram Panchayat levels should be NGOs taking funds for public on payment of fees, as, during any one of the following: development the course of the Dharna, the State gov- l A resident of the area concerned. activities directly from ernment had publicly questioned the the state or central practicality of providing photocopies of l An elected representative of the governments and documents in 9000 Gram Panchaytas of Panchayati Raj bodies. their bodies should Rajasthan. l A Member of Legislative Assem- also share Ironically, the report of the Committee bly or a Member of Parliament of information about was made secret as soon as it was sub- that area. their activities mitted: copies were not even left with l A copy of the record could be ob- its members for fear of leakage to the tained of the works completed three press. This happened with a report that years prior to the date of application. unequivocally recommended transpar- ency and endorsed the people’s right to l The copy of the record would be made information. The MKSS later obtained available on payment of a fee of at a copy through informal channels. The least Rs.5 per page. report recommended the following: The Arun Kumar Committee endorsed l The certified photocopies of muster another important demand of the rolls, bills and vouchers of completed movement. It felt that NGOs taking public works should be made avail- funds for development activities di- able to the citizens in the Panchayat rectly from the State or central govern- Samitis (blocks) and Gram Panchayat ments and their bodies should also offices where photocopying facilities share information about their activities. are available. For this purpose, the committee felt,

The Struggle for Entitlement 25 the funds of the NGOs should be regu- capital of Jaipur wherein prominent per- larly audited and information regard- sons from the city intelligentsia, various ing their activities be made available Non Government Organisations and to the people and the public representa- grassroots level activists of the State and tives of the area. senior members of the Rajasthan gov- ernment participated – including Chief Formation of NCPRI Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Un- While the MKSS continued with its der the chairmanship of Justice Sawant, agitational activities at the grassroots the meeting addressed to various con- level in the form of demonstrations and ceptual and practical questions related dharnas at Panchayat Samiti headquar- The 40 day Dharna in to the people’s Right to Information. ters in its area after lifting the Beawar There was much drama on the first day Rajasthan and the and Jaipur Dharnas, the Rajasthan Right with the government members, led by collateral linkages it to Information Movement took another articulated between the Chief Minister, and the rest of the major turn. With the national body poli- gathering taking adversarial positions a the Right to tic reeking of various corruption scams number of times. On the second day, Information, the fight against corruption and in the past decade and the Bofors, the the meeting devoted itself to attending the details of the draft Right to Infor- realisation of various Securities, the Fodder and the Hawala scandals tainting nearly all major politi- mation bill prepared at the LBS Acad- other economic- developmental cal formations, the novelty of the grass- emy, Mussoorie workshop the previous year with a view to improving it and sub- entitlements of the roots MKSS experiments in Social Audit mitting a viable draft bill to the central people galvanised using Right to Information as a tool to this varied group of fight corruption had a unique appeal for government for enacting a legislation to operationalise this important constitu- intellectuals and various enlightened intellectuals and ac- tional entitlement of the citizens. activists across the tivists in the country. The 40 day Dharna country into a in Rajasthan and the collateral linkages The Press Council followed this up with concerted campaign it articulated between the Right to Infor- a similar but bigger meeting it called in of advocacy and mation, the fight against corruption and Delhi on July 31 and August 1, 1996 realisation of various other economic- action at their level on which was also attended by various the issue of the developmental entitlements of the peo- prominent political leaders like former people’s Right to ple galvanised this varied group of intel- Prime Ministers Chadrashekhar and Information. lectuals and activists across the country VP Singh, Union minister George into a concerted campaign of advocacy Fernandes and several parliamentarians. and action at their level on the issue of All of them pledged their commitment the people’s Right to Information. to passing a law on the Right to Informa- A major happening in this connection tion. The then Leader of the Opposition, was the involvement of the Press Coun- Atal Behari Vajpayee, sent a letter to the cil of India, (a statutory body under the Press Council, which was read out in the then Chairman Justice PV Sawant) with meeting, pledging his support to the these efforts. On July 20 and 21, 1996, cause. The meeting launched the Na- the MKSS and the Press Council of In- tional Campaign for People’s Right to dia held a joint meeting in the Rajasthan Information with activists, intellectuals

26 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN and professionals from various states, Agitation Again and Jaipur which then set up a small group to final- Dharna ise the draft bill. To run the campaign As the Arun Kumar Committee Report too, a small working group of prominent was made secret by the Rajasthan gov- people was formed. ernment and its implementation re- By the end of the year, the NCPRI and mained blocked despite all the net- the Press Council of India managed to working and advocacy efforts and ne- prepare and submit to the Union Gov- gotiations at the state and at the na- ernment a comprehensive draft Right to tional levels, the MKSS decided to Information Bill. This was called the launch a fresh agitation in February, Press Council draft bill on the Right to 1997. Meanwhile, a Jan Sunwai at Information. It was later revised at a Beawar held jointly by the MKSS and workshop hosted by the National Insti- the Press Council in September, 1996, tute of Rural Development and was and Dharnas at Panchayat Samiti head- thereafter called the Press Council- quarters in MKSS areas and widespread NIRD bill. Intensive advocacy by the media coverage of these events had Intensive advocacy by NCPRI helped forge an atmosphere that kept up the heat in the State. the NCPRI helped made various political formations in the A run-up to this phase of agitation saw forge an atmosphere country pledge support to the idea of a Dharnas, lasting several days, in all the that made various Right to Information law at the central five Divisional towns of the State, mo- political formations in level and in various states. It resulted in bilising support for the as yet unrealised the country to pledge the United Front Government at the demands of the 40 day long Dharna of support the idea of a centre appointing the HD Shourie Com- the previous year. These were not to- Right to Information mittee, which included senior secretar- ken Dharnas but live agitational affairs law at the central level ies of the Government of India apart with street plays, puppet shows, group and in various states from the chairperson who is a well- songs, marches and meetings commu- known consumer rights activist. The nicating the message of the movement government referred the Press Council- and mobilising support and resources for NIRD draft to the Shourie Committee, it. The Divisional Dharnas culminated which finally produced its own draft in the indefinite Dharna before the State Freedom of Information Bill. This was secretariat at the Statue Circle in Jaipur. revised by the Union Government and passed by the Parliament as the Free- Beginning on May 26, 1997, exactly a dom of Information Act, 2002. The at- year after the Dharna was lifted in 1996, mosphere created by NCPRI advocacy the Jaipur Dharna lasted for 53 days – also provided the context wherein sev- ending on July 14, 1997. True to form, eral State governments, beginning with the State government came up with a Tamilnadu and Goa in 1996-97, pro- trick on the eve of this Dharna too. In duced their own Right to Information a conference of Chief Ministers held in Laws, Orders and Acts. An evaluation New Delhi on May 24, 1997, Bhairon of these various has been attempted Singh Shekhawat of Rajasthan an- later on in this paper. nounced that his government had

The Struggle for Entitlement 27 already ensured transparency in admin- Jan Sunwais that had till then occurred istration by passing orders enabling the in central Rajasthan. Nayyar calculated public to obtain photocopies at the that this rural development scam in Panchayat level, of records relating to Rajasthan would surpass the Rs. 900 the various State government depart- crore fodder scam in Bihar. ments. The next day an MKSS delega- During the Dharna, the MKSS also tion met the Chief Minister to ask for took out a Ghotala Rath Yatra (scam the orders. But they did not exist. The chariot trip) in Jaipur and Delhi, listing Chief Minister gave the assurance that all the major corruption scams in inde- the orders would be issued on May 26, pendent India, mocking the BJP leader the day the Dharna was going to begin. LK Advani’s so called Rath Yatra When an NCPRI delegation met him (chariot trip) against hunger, fear and under the leadership of veteran jour- corruption even as his party’s govern- nalist and Rajya Sabha member Kuldip ment in Rajasthan turned a deaf year Nayyar on May 26, the day the Dharna to the people’s demands for the Right On the basis of the began, the Chief Minister said that to Information that had been demon- evidence of corruption these orders would be passed by June strated as an effective tool against cor- per Panchayat 3, 1997 and asked the MKSS to lift the ruption. The NCPRI organised a great unearthed by the few Dharna. Taken in by Chief Minister deal of support for the Dharna in Delhi Jan Sunwais that had Shekhawat’s assurance, Nayyar re- where a delegation of eminent persons occurred till then, quested the MKSS to do so. But know- submitted a memorandum in support Nayyar calculated that ing better, the MKSS continued with of Dharna demands addressed to the this rural development the Dharna. And on June 3, instead of Chief Minister to the Rajasthan Resi- scam in Rajasthan passing the transparency orders, the dent Commissioner. would surpass the State government constituted a sub- Rs. 900 crore fodder committee to look into the matter. The lifting of the Dharna, after the State scam in Bihar government conceded its major demand In the face of the State government’s of making available on demand to citi- overt hostility, this Dharna too was a zens photocopies of all records of live point of agitation from which vari- Panchayati Raj bodies, including bills, ous kinds of agitational activities and vouchers and muster rolls of rural de- aggressive advocacy efforts emanated velopment works carried out by them, that drew the attention and support of was preceded by an extraordinary drama. enlightened opinion across the country. At a press conference on the 14th of July, During the course of the Dharna, Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Kuldip Nayyar, a veteran columnist and Harishankar Bhabhra pulled out a copy Member of Parliament, wrote a letter of the Rajasthan Gazette, dated 30th to the then Prime Minister IK Gujral December 1996 and classified as ex- pointing out the scale of corruption traordinary, notifying the Panchayati Raj scams in rural development works in Act rules gave the citizens the right to 9000 village Panchayats on the basis of inspect and obtain copies of all records the evidence of corruption per kept by the Panchayati Raj bodies, Panchayat unearthed by the few MKSS including bills, vouchers and muster rolls

28 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN of development works carried out by display by the government at them. This fulfilled the demands made Panchayats/Panchayat Samitis and by the MKSS. The gazette proved ex- work sites details of sanction and traordinary in the sense that no one, not expenditure of construction works even the government that had issued it, carried out by Panchayat bodies. Be- seemed to be aware of its existence for ing in the rules of the Rajasthan more than six months – from Dec. 30, Panchayati Raj Act, these provisions 1996 to July 14, 1997. had the legal status no executive or- Treating the gazette as if it were ap- der of the State government could proved on July 14, the MKSS lifted have. The farce of the Cabinet sub the Dharna after taking out a victory committee appointed to go into the parade on the streets of Jaipur. The feasibility of providing certified cop- gazette gave to MKSS even more ies of Panchayati Raj documents was than it had asked, including suo moto also rendered meaningless now.

The Struggle for Entitlement 29 CHAPTER III

Maturing Methodology

This chapter tells the story of the five Jan Sunwais of the second phase, after the RTI entitlement was won with respect to Panchayati Raj, and analyses the matu- rity of methodology and growth they register over the first phase.

The success of the Jaipur Dharna in than ten visits to a panchayat before the 1997 and the victory in getting the RTI bills, vouchers and muster rolls of the entitlement in Panchayati Raj did make works were handed over to the people a difference in the area covered by di- for inspection and photocopying. Finally, rect MKSS activity. In fact, the Jan with sufficient records in hand, The latter phase is Sunwai campaign of the organisation Panchayats of Kukarkheda, Barar and distinguished from the has two distinct phases: pre Jaipur former in terms of a Kushalpura were chosen for the first Dharna and post Jaipur Dharna. The lat- new found confidence, Jan Sunwai of the second phase at ter phase is distinguished from the Kukarkheda in Rajsamand District on the degree and former in terms of a new found confi- intensity of Jan. 9, 1998. dence, the degree and intensity of mo- mobilisation, the bilisation, the tangibility of impact, the Kukarkheda Jan Sunwai: Power of tangibility of impact, tenacity of follow-up on Jan Sunwais and Public Shame the tenacity of follow- a maturing of methodology. Nothing in the first phase of Jan Sunwais up on Jan Sunwais could surpass the drama of this Jan and a maturing of After the end of the Jaipur Dharna in Sunwai. Villager after villager came for- methodology. July 1997, the MKSS set about trying to test the newly introduced RTI provisions ward to testify to the falsity of the in the Panchayati Raj Act in the State. Panchayat records and give the real pic- As a first step, the organisation listed out ture of the work actually carried out by 10 village Panchayats from whom to ob- the Kukarkheda Gram Panchayat. The tain copies of records relating to the collective murmur of disapproval rising total expenditure incurred by them on from a gathering of more than a thou- rural development work since 1995. The sand became too much for the Sarpanch Sarpanches and the Gram Sewaks or who sat with the panelists. Finally, prov- Panchayat Secretaries were hesitant in ing the power of public shame, and honouring the Rajasthan government showing courage at the same time, gazette notification and providing infor- Basanta Devi got up to accept her re- mation until pressure was put on them sponsibility for the instances of corrup- by the local people or until district au- tion that came out, announcing her de- thorities intervened under popular pres- cision to return the embezzled amount. sure. Even after a notional acceptance The Sarpanch of Kukarkheda an- of providing information, it took more nounced she would return Rs. 1 lakh,

30 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN the amount she confessed having em- for the sand and stones supplied and bezzled. Out of this, she said, she would fraud in muster rolls. The total scam immediately return Rs. 50,000 to the amounted to Rs. 1.50 lakhs approxi- Panchayat account and return the other mately – 40 percent of the total ex- Rs. 50,000 a little later. penditure, compared to 30 percent of the expenditure in Kukarkheda. The major frauds detected in Kukar- kheda Gram Panchayat were: This Jan Sunwai exposed the lie of the argument justifying fudging of accounts l Fraud in the construction of a canal on the grounds of so called ‘adjustment’ l Fraudulent billing of the cement used, to maintain the 60:40 ratio in employ- 125 bags in excess of what was actu- ment intensive rural development works ally used as per the requirement of the central government. This argument had been l Fraudulent bills for carting material, often heard from the Panchayat to the and topmost bureaucratic levels in the State l Fraud in muster rolls. in the course of the anti-corruption cam- paign of the MKSS over the years. It was The approximate misappropriation of It was made clear in made clear in the Jan Sunwai by econo- funds in Kukarkheda Panchayat was a the Jan Sunwai that the mist Prof. VS Vyas and junior engineer little over a lakh of Rupees. Dramatic central government Girish, who helped MKSS out for the though it was in the midst of the Jan requirement was with Jan Sunwai, that the central government Sunwai, Sarpanch Basanta Devi’s an- respect to all works requirement was with respect to all nouncement did not come as a surprise taken together in the works taken together in the district and to the MKSS activists. As MKSS activ- district and not all not all individual works. Moreover, the ists went about physically verifying each individual works Jan Sunwai clearly demonstrated that the expenditure and the work done in the Panchayat during the run-up to the Jan material bills were the first to be fudged as they were easier to fudge, and then Sunwai, Basanta Devi gradually gave in. the labour bills were further fudged to She had also not resisted giving photo- meet the ratio. For corruption, in fact, copies of documents the MKSS activ- any excuse and opportunity would do. ists had asked for. Economist Prof. VS Vyas from Jaipur, In this Jan Sunwai, the Barar Panchayat Neuro Psychiatrist Prof. Sriniwas experience provided a contrast to the Murthy from Bangalore and Prof. Kukarkheda experience. Sarpanch Shekhar Singh from Indian Institute of Asha Devi of Barar did not cooperate Public Administration, Delhi were at all in providing bills, vouchers and among those who constituted the panel muster rolls related to works in her for the Public Hearing. Panchayat. Rather, she had a ward mem- ber threaten Laxman Singh, who was But more dramatic was what happened involved in trying to access these docu- after the event. The Jan Sunwai had ex- ments. There were two major frauds in posed the corruption of various people this Panchayat, mostly related to con- apart from Basanta Devi – the Barar struction of an anicut: fraudulent bills Sarpanch, the Gram Sewak, the junior Maturing Methodology 31 engineer etc. A little while later, the This Jan Sunwai mostly examined de- District Administration singled out velopment works in the three Basanta Devi for an investigation into Panchayats of Surajpura, Rawatmal and charges of corruption, intimidated her Lotiyana. The most dramatic case of with this threat and forced her to take corruption came from Rawatmal where back the amount she had returned to the a non-existent water channel was Panchayat coffers. shown in the records as completed. Surajpura Public Hearing: Fraud was also detected in the construc- The Way Forward tion of an anicut in Surajpura Panchayat and digging of a pond in Going a step ahead of Kukarkheda, the Lotiyana Panchayat. Some prominent Surajpura Jan Sunwai in Jawaja Tehsil instances of frauds in Surajpura and of Ajmer District, held on Jan. 19, 1998 Lotiyana Panchayats were: saw two Sarpanches owning responsi- l Surajpura – fraud bills for 99 trollies bility for corruption in development of stone and 260 bags of cement works and agreeing to return the money that was misappropriated. Chhagan l Lotiyana – manipulation in muster roll, A high point in the Singh of Rawatmal Panchayat and Om showing 40 workers worked for public profile of Jan Prakash Solanki of Surajpura agreed to 10 days against the actual figure of Sunwais was the return Rs.1.47 lakh and Rs.1.15 lakh 7 workers working for a week arrival of, and address respectively. The presence of five Apart from VP Singh, the panelists in by, former Prime Sarpanches in the Jan Sunwai – the Surajpura Jan Sunwai included Ajit Minister Vishwanath Bhanwar Singh of Jawaja, Kanku Devi Bhattacharjee, veteran journalist and the Pratap Singh in the of Badkochra, another Kanku Devi of Director of Press Institute of India in Surajpura Jan Sunwai Lotiyana, Omprakash Solanki of Delhi, Harsh Mander, then in the Surajpura and Chhagan Singh of Madhya Pradesh cadre of the Indian Rawatmal – testified to the sea change Administrative Service, Santosh that had come about due to the MKSS Mathew from the Bihar cadre of the IAS, campaign in the area since the days Pushpa Bhave, Marathi writer from of the first phase of Jan Sunwais in Mumbai, Ved Vyas, a Hindi writer and 1994-95 when no Sarpanch cared to journalist from Jaipur and Prem Krishan attend a Public Hearing. Obviously, the Sharma, prominent High Court lawyer big public mobilisation in a MKSS Jan from Jaipur and President of the Sunwai was not something that could Rajasthan unit of the People’s Union for be ignored by any public representative Civil Liberties. in the area. A high point in the public profile of Jan Sunwais was the arrival The two Sarpanches, Chhagan Singh of of, and address by, former Prime Min- Rawatmal and Omprakash Solanki of ister Vishwanath Pratap Singh in the Surajpura, who took moral responsibil- Surajpura Jan Sunwai. A gathering of ity for defalcation of development around 2000 villagers was the most im- money, were true to their word and re- portant participant in, and witness to, turned the amount promised to their this morality play. respective panchayat funds. Unlike its

32 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN Rajsamand counterpart, which forced central Rajasthan in that for the first Basanta Devi of Kukarkheda to take time it hit at the point where India’s tra- back the embezzled amount she had re- ditional feudal inequities converge with turned, the Ajmer district administra- the pathologies of its modern develop- tion did not try to influence Chhagan ment and democratic machinery – to the Singh and Solanki in such a way. In fact, advantage of the former. the Ajmer district administration, again As pointed out, the MKSS till then had unlike the Rajsamand one, was quite operated in an area where the caste and cooperative in making information for class inequities in the villages were the three panchayats in Jawaja Tehsil not as pronounced as elsewhere in covered by the Surajpura Jan Sunwai, Rajasthan. But the magic of the Jan accessible to the MKSS activists. Sunwais had gradually caught on, and Bori Public Hearing: Fighting with it the profile and name of the The Jan Sunwai was a A Feudal Grip Sangathan. So it was that Pyarchand watershed in the Khatik, the Sarpanch of Umarwas (and Occurring as it did when the exercise course of public that was another of the unique things of framing the Rajasthan Right to In- hearings in central or ‘firsts’ to happen with this Jan formation law was still on, the Bori Jan Rajasthan in that for Sunwai), had been after the MKSS for Sunwai marked a real turning point in the first time it hit at nearly two years to hold a Jan Sunwai in the MKSS operations in central the point where India’s his Gram Panchayat – much before he Rajasthan. Held on December 18, traditional feudal was suspended and eventually dismissed, 1999 outside of the usual area of inequities converge with the government ordering a recov- MKSS operations till then, the Jan with the pathologies ery of Rs.1.5 lakh from him. Sunwai at Bori village in Umarwas of its modern Panchayat of Rajsamand District was A Dalit Sarpanch, Pyarchand had ap- development and the first to be held after the change of proached the MKSS when he realised democratic government in the State. It was held a that he was being taken for a ride by a machinery – to the whole year after the Congress govern- small upper caste coterie of Nain Singh advantage of the ment under Chief Minister Ashok Solanki, the Thakur of the village, former Gehlot took over in the State, a year Laxman Das and Bhanwarlal Sewak, that saw both the government and the who had him elected to the reserved MKSS interacting to get a new RTI law post in order to manipulate him for their across in Rajasthan. own benefit. In his four years of office, Pyarchand never knew what he was sign- With both the District Collector and the ing. And with each piece of paper he Superintendent of Police present in the signed, he filled the coffers of this Jan Sunwai, the new turn in the admin- coterie and its henchmen and in effect istrative orientation was amply evident, signed his own eventual dismissal in as it was for the first time the adminis- early 1999. tration at such a senior level actually be- came part of a Jan Sunwai. But more The administration’s quick action than that, the Jan Sunwai was a water- against Pyarchand was based on an shed in the course of public hearings in anonymous complaint, which came

Maturing Methodology 33 soon after he had approached MKSS. l Free houses under Indira Awas But Pyarchand persisted with his plead- scheme went not to the poor of the ings to hold a Jan Sunwai in Umarwas. Panchayat but to Nain Singh, who was Here also the Bori Public Hearing has also the Ward Panch, five of his rela- important lessons to offer. First, com- tives and three other Ward Panches, plete transparency is the best defence all well off, against all norms. against blackmail and manipulation. l The community centre in Asan vil- Second, reservation as a means of em- lage actually became a part of powerment is inadequate without a cor- Panchayat Samiti member Kamala responding support structure. Nath’s house. The Bori Jan Sunwai seemed to sow the l A water channel drawn by the seeds of such a support structure, how- ever elementary, among the Dalits of Panchayat to water fields of Bansa vil- Umarwas Panchayat as they spoke out lagers actually irrigated only the fields The Bori Public publicly for the first time against those of Nain Singh and relatives. Hearing has important who controlled their lives. Till just 15 l Ghost wages were paid and pocketed lessons to offer. First, days before the Jan Sunwai, there was a by the coterie on the basis of false complete pall of fear in the Panchayat, prevent- entries in muster rolls. transparency is the ing anyone from speaking out – a fear l best defence against torn to shreds during the run-up to the Thousands of rupees were embez- Hathais blackmail and Jan Sunwai as MKSS activists began con- zled in the name of building manipulation. fronting the falsehood contained in gov- or traditional public platforms that Second, reservation ernment records with physical verifica- already existed. as a means of tion of things on the ground. Before and The atmosphere in the gathering of be- empowerment is during the Jan Sunwai, Pyarchand was tween 2000 and 3000 became more inadequate without a honest enough to confess that he too got charged as this outrageous list grew. The corresponding support crumbs from the loot which was all coterie tried to lay all the blame on the structure taken back from him in the name of re- dismissed Sarpanch Pyarchand through covering election expenses made on his whose signature all the works were ex- behalf by the same coterie. This con- ecuted. But Pyarchand’s pleas that he fession, showing that he was not at all had been manipulated and forced to sub- concerned with the consequences, was mit carried weight as he seemed to be a proof of Pyarchand’s innocence. Some the beneficiary of none of the misde- examples, highlighted in the Jan Sunwai, meanours. In fact, what was revealed in of the way the dominant coterie in the the Bori Jan Sunwai was not only the village pocketed development and manipulation of Pyarchand, but also Panchayati Raj through Pyarchand are: Panchayati Raj, the system of reserva- l A new building constructed with tions, rural development schemes – in Panchayat funds and shown as the fact, our modern democracy itself. community centre in Data Niwas vil- Never before had a MKSS Jan Sunwai lage actually served as the annexe to unraveled layers of such feudal hold Thakur Nain Singh’s Ravla or manor. over our modern system.

34 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN The Bori Jan Sunwai, with writer audit proceedings. This Jan Sunwai was Arundhati Roy and feminist activist and held in the wake of the Rajasthan gov- writer Madhu Kishwar among the ernment ordinance, later made into an panelists, threw a fresh plea to the admin- Act, devolving widespread powers fur- istration for real justice. While the benefi- ther down the line from Gram Sabhas ciaries of corruption in the Panchayat to Ward Sabhas, an assembly of all roamed free, Pyarchand, the victim adults living in a Panchayat ward. Two of manipulation had been punished. of the most important powers given to Moreover, two government servants sus- a Ward Sabha included Social Audit and pended with Pyarchand were reinstated Development Planning. The first Social two months later while Pyarchand’s Audit Ward Sabhas were slated to be Sarpanchship was terminated. held between May 1 and May 15, 2000. The District Collector and the Superin- The MKSS planned the Bhim Jan tendent of Police participated and did Sunwai in April 2000 with the inten- some smooth talking in the public hear- tion of going with its results to the ing. But how did the system react later? Ward Sabhas, when they were held, and The Bori Jan Sunwai On Jan.7,2000, the Block Development presenting these results for Social Au- threw a fresh plea to Officer of Kumbhalgarh filed a First dit. This would test on the ground the the administration for Information Report at Gadbhor police new ordinance that looked so progres- real justice. While the station. It referred to the Bori Jan sive on paper. Bhim being one of the beneficiaries of Sunwai, but gave a short shrift to the biggest village Panchayats in Rajasthan, corruption in the main instances of corruption and the with 29 wards and a population of more Panchayat roamed evidence unearthed there. Instead, it than 20,000, seemed a natural choice free, Pyarchand, the again made Pyarchand the main accused for the purpose. victim of manipulation by a selective use of evidence. As the Held on 3rd April 2000, the Jan Sunwai had been punished MKSS persisted with petitions and was attended by a representative of the meetings over the next many months to district administration in the person of get real justice in the case, an out-of- Rajiv Thakur, the Project Director of court settlement was arrived at with the the District Rural Development Author- administration. Recoveries were made ity. Apart from him, the panel included by the administration through civil pro- Justice Vinod Shankar Dave, a former ceedings from Nain Singh and his gang judge of the Rajasthan High Court, who had benefited from corruption as Ram-sharan Joshi, the Director of criminal proceedings had been dropped Makhanlal Chaturvedi University of against Pyarchand – and against the Journalism in Bhopal and a team from coterie as well. Kerala Shashtra Sahitya Parishad, the or- Bhim Jan Sunwai: Knocking at ganisation that made a name for itself the System’s Gate with the implementation of the People’s Plan exercise in Kerala. The fourth in the second phase of Jan Sunwais, the one at Bhim was intended Some startling instances of corruption to feed into the Ward Sabha social were exposed in the Jan Sunwai, of

Maturing Methodology 35 which a case of non-payment of mini- scandal. None of them attended the mum wages grabbed most of the atten- Public Hearing, even though the tion. Women workers on a work site Sarpanch sat within hearing distance all were paid as little as Rs.8 per day. Stone through at a tea shop nearby. was supplied for this construction from All the cases of corruption unearthed the private stone quarry of a henchman in the Jan Sunwai were put up for Social of the Sarpanch Sohanlal Mewara. This Audit in their respective Ward Sabha quarry owner had employed some meetings in May. The Ward Sabhas also women in his quarry and did not want took resolutions recording these cases to pay them from his pocket. The of corruption and forwarded them to Sarpanch showed them in the muster the State government for action, but in roll as having worked on the Panchayat vain. Nothing happened. work site where some other women had actually been employed. So what hap- Janawad Jan Sunwai: A Long The Jan Sunwai at pened was that the money, which had Road Janawad came at the come for wage payment for the end of a one year long The long road to Janawad Jan Sunwai Panchayat work, was divided among and after traverses the constraints and battle for obtaining more labourers than stipulated. Both information. This year potential of the MKSS experience of the Panchayat work site women and the public hearings since Dec. 1994. Held long battle is a quarry women workers suffered as a testimony to how on April 3, 2001 as a part of the chain result of this and had to make do with of events commemorating five years of opposition to the idea low wages. of transparency is so the Beawar Dharna, the Jan Sunwai at entrenched in the Interestingly, one case of corruption Janawad came at the end of a one year system that it will do was revealed through a diary main- long battle for obtaining information. anything to thwart the tained by a ward member. It revealed This year long battle is a testimony to sharing of information that the construction of a village road how opposition to the idea of transpar- with the people was overbilled to the tune of Rs. 1 lakh ency is so entrenched in the system that approximately. In another instance of it will do anything to thwart the sharing corruption, an extra floor, (the first of information with the people. The rea- floor) was added to an existing Kisan son for this came out clearly in the Jan Vikas Kendra building but payment Sunwai, which demonstrated how sharp against bills was received for digging a tool information is to expose the dark the foundation as well. In another case, ways of corruption leading to control earth dug up from one Panchayat work over resources and lives of human be- site was used as filling at another in the ings under the cover of secrecy. same Panchayat, but this filling was Janawad in Rajsamand District, like billed and charged as having been Umarwas, was also way out of the brought from elsewhere. MKSS’ usual area of operations. As in The more than 2000 strong gathering the case of MKSS Jan Sunwais in other at the Jan Sunwai held Sarpanch villages, it was the people of Janawad Mewara, the Gram Sewak and the Jun- who took the initiative of following ior Engineer responsible for this up the complaints regarding cases of

36 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN corruption, presided over by ex-Sarpanch As suggested by the administration, Ramlal during his tenure from 1994 to the MKSS and the local villagers 1999. With a lot of high level political resubmitted their application in a backing, he still had a strangle-hold over Panchayat meeting on the 6th of June. the new Panchayat, which was now The Gram Sewak promised to give them headed by a woman, Bhuri Bai. The clout the information between the 5th and 7th of Ramlal is evident from the fact that of July. But no one was there during that out of the Rs.10 crore allotted to the period to give information. On the 24th 37 Gram Panchayats of Kumbhalgarh of July when people presented them- Panchayat Samiti for construction works selves again in the Panchayat meeting in five years, around Rs.1.25 crore went to get the information, it was refused to Janawad alone. More than anything on the ground that the Accounts had else, the year long travails of MKSS ac- gone for Audit and would be returned The MKSS got to tivists and people of the village in try- in Aug. 2000. On Aug.14, the MKSS know that the ing to access official Panchayat records and Janawad residents again wrote a let- Sarpanch and the pertaining to development work in ter to the CEO Rajsamand. On Sept.9, Gram Sewak of Janawad, under the provisions of the the MKSS got to know that the Janawad had written to Panchayati Raj Act rules of Rajasthan, Sarpanch and the Gram Sewak of the CEO saying they are themselves a testimony to Ramlal’s Janawad had written to the CEO say- could not give the clout with the politics and administra- ing they could not give the information information asked for tion of the area – and also his mastery asked for as the Gram Sabha had passed as the Gram Sabha of the judicial mechanism. Therefore a a resolution to this effect on 15th May had passed a quick look at this pre-Public Hearing tale and the Gram Panchayat general meet- resolution to this effect is instructive. ing had taken a similar resolution on 24th on 15th May and the July. On the15th of September, the Inspired by the Public Hearing in Gram Panchayat MKSS wrote a letter to the Minister and Umarwas in Dec. 1999 and having seen general meeting had Secretary of the Panchayati Raj depart- the information board in Janawad, the taken a similar ment of Rajasthan about the illegality people of the Panchayat applied for in- resolution on 24th July of the so-called Gram Sabha and Gram formation relating to works executed in Panchayat resolutions. 1995-2000, on Feb.16, 2000 under the PR Act. As per rules, they should have A month later, on the 16th of October, got the information in four days, but the Secretary Panchayati Raj and the they were refused. After a month, on 30th State government ordered the BDO of March, they applied to the District Col- Kumbhalgarh to furnish the informa- lector of Rajsamand for the same infor- tion. On 23rd October, the State gov- mation. It took more than a month for ernment’s Panchayati Raj department the district administration to respond, also set aside the so-called Gram Sabha albeit in a dilatory way. On May 17, the and Gram Panchayat resolutions and Chief Executive Officer of Rajsamand asked for an explanation by the District wrote to the Block Develop- Sarpanch and the Gram Sewak within ment Officer of Kumbhalgarh to give 15 days. On 2nd November, the the information asked for. Kumbhalgarh Panchayat Samiti Pradhan

Maturing Methodology 37 took possession of the records and or- On Nov. 26, the NCPRI shot off a let- dered evaluation of the Janawad works ter to the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj executed in 1995-2000 by a committee Minister demanding the immediate fur- consisting of the BDO of Kumbhal- nishing of information, the suspension garh, the Junior Engineer and the Jun- of the Janawad Gram Sewak, action ior Accountant within two months. He against the BDO, CEO and the Col- refused information to the MKSS and lector Nirmal Wadhwani (ironically the the people of the village on the ground same young BDO of yesteryears who that it would result in disturbing the had so diligently provided information peace. The next day, Nov. 3, he also in- and conducted an inquiry in the initial formed the Rajsamand Collector and days of the MKSS journey ) for collu- Secretary of the Panchayati Raj depart- sion in not implementing the law and ment of his decision and said that the refusing to give information, and ac- denial of information to the MKSS was tion against the Kumbhalgarh Pradhan in public interest. After a fortnight, on and Janawad Sarpanch. Nov. 18, the Panchayati Raj Secretary But the great drama happened on ordered the Sarpanch and the Gram Nov. 28, when the Gram Sewak disap- Sewak of Janawad to bring all records peared with all original records and to him in three days. copies and reappeared a few days later When this did not happen, the MKSS with a stay order of the Jodhpur High organised a Dharna of over a 1000 resi- Court on the orders of the State gov- dents of Bhim, Devgarh, Kumbhalgarh, ernment. It was more than two and a Jawaja and Kishangarh Panchayat half months later, on 20th Feb., 2001 Samitis outside the Rajsa-mand that the High Court vacated the stay collectorate, demanding the implemen- and ordered that the information asked tation of Panchayati Raj Act rules as for be given to the MKSS and the resi- th amended in 1996. The Collector came dents of Janawad. Finally on 24 Feb., out and assured the people in the pres- 2001, the people of Janawad got the ence of the Kumbhalgarh BDO that information, even though the records information related to the Janawad received were still incomplete with sev- works would be provided by the eral papers gone missing. Panchayat by Nov. 25. But on 25th Nov., However, whatever records were avail- the Gram Sewak again refused to pro- able and the subsequent Jan Sunwai re- vide information, saying, through a let- vealed corruption on an unprecedented ter, that under Section 323 of the scale and explained why there was so Panchayati Raj Act rules he could only much resistance in the system to part- permit scrutiny, and not furnish copies, ing with these records. Copies of records of the documents. Protesting against relating to 98 works in the course of this, the MKSS wrote to the BDO and five years (worth more than Rs.1.25 Gram Sewak that Section 324 of the crore) were made available, of which same Rules allowed furnishing of au- many documents were incomplete - thenticated photocopies. with measurement books and utilisation

38 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN certificates of many works missing. The of the case and the widespread national Jan Sunwai examined works worth media coverage, the police arrested Rs.65 lakh and established embezzle- former Janawad Sarpanch Ramlal ment of approximately Rs.45 lakh. This Gurjar, ex-Panchayat Secretary Atta figure went up to nearly Rs.70 lakh sub- Mohammed and the Junior Engineer sequent to a government enquiry by the Sanwarchand Chandel on April 10 un- Bannalal committee. der a First Information Report lodged during the run-up to the Jan Sunwai. The The story of the arduous Janawad next day the BDO lodged another FIR struggle for the Right to Information and added the name of another Junior had become such a legend in the area, Engineer, Vinod Kumar Arora. as well as outside, that the grounds for the Jan Sunwai were backed with more But these FIRs did not cover the whole than 3000 people on April 3, 2001. The extent of the fraud in Janawad. And panel was presided over by the Press soon enough an attempt at cover-up In response to a Council Chairperson, Justice PB started. A district administration inquiry MKSS representation Sawant, and the panelists included the gave a clean chit with reference to most to the Chief Minister retired Chief Justice of Delhi High of the Janawad works. Meanwhile, in demanding a Court, Justice Rajinder Sachhar, retired response to a MKSS representation to thorough government Judge of Rajasthan High Court Justice the Chief Minister demanding a thorough enquiry into the VS Dave, Press Institute of India Di- government enquiry into the complete complete range of rector, Ajit Bhattacharjee, journalist range of Janawad works by someone Janawad works by Kalpana Sharma and activists from from outside the area and with a high someone from other parts of the country like Vandana level of integrity, the State government outside the area and Shiva, Baba Adhav, MP Parameswaran, constituted an inquiry committee. The with a high level of Surendra Mohan and Nelson committee was headed by Bannalal, a integrity, the State Fernandez. Though the local Collector Deputy Secretary in the Audit depart- government and the Superintendent of Police chose ment and known for his integrity. The constituted an inquiry to abstain from the Jan Sunwai (the committee also included two technical committee district administration was represented officers, an executive engineer and an by officers lower in rank), a high rank- accounts officer of the Panchayati Raj ing government of India official, Sudha department. Pillai, Joint Secretary in the Rural De- Formed on April 27, the committee sub- velopment Ministry was on the panel. mitted its report on 24th July and did a The tone of the Jan Sunwai was set by thorough job of it. It conducted a par- the Sarpanch, Bhuri Bai, who testified ticipatory and transparent probe ensur- to the hold of the ex-Sarpanch Ramlal ing full involvement of the MKSS ac- and said that the Gram Sewak, tivists and the residents of Janawad. Baburam Saini, had got her to sign sev- More than 400 pages long, the Bannalal eral sheets of blank paper. committee’s is a historic report based To cut a long story short, under pres- on the physical verification of all 141 sure from the unprecedented mobilisa- development works executed in tion for the Jan Sunwai, the high profile Janawad Panchayat in the six years

Maturing Methodology 39 between 1994 and 2001 and the testi- l The works violated all norms and mony of everybody concerned. And were without effective supervision. the committee’s findings include l Even while under suspension, the Jun- nearly every kind of corruption that ior Engineer kept filling measurement is possible in development works in a books, on the basis of which the Panchayat. Salient findings of the Panchayat Samiti kept sanctioning Janawad Jan Sunwai and the Bannalal funds. Committee report are: l The employees concerned were given l Out of a development expenditure of voluntary retirement despite police Rs.1.25 crore in 6 years, Rs.70 lakh cases against them. were misappropriated. l The Chief Minister was misinformed l Out of a total of 141 development by the district administration through works, the number of ghost works its probe report – a fact accepted by was 49 – only on paper, not on the the administration. ground. l A crucial measurement was found l Embezzlement took place in 105 missing during the probe. The committee’s works. findings include The Bannalal Committee held govern- l The ghost works included anicut, nearly every kind of ment functionaries responsible in each wells, primary school, sub health cen- corruption that is instance of corruption that it estab- tre, veterinary hospital, roads, inn, possible in lished. It recommended that these peo- bridges and community centre – all development works in ple should be prosecuted by the spe- of which could have been valuable a Panchayat cial cell of the anti-corruption depart- community assets in a drought prone, ment under 105 different FIRs one for poor and backward area. each work involving embezzelment. It l The poor were robbed of their hous- also recommended recovery of the ing entitlement under the Indira Awas embezzled amount from these 15 peo- scheme, while the relatively better off ple and departmental action against benefited. them. Only one of these, the former Sarpanch is an elected functionary, the l One anicut was measured and billed rest of them are administrative offi- four times. Similarly, the Panchayat cials, government engineers and gov- building was also measured and billed ernment accountants. On the basis of as the veterinary hospital and sub this report, the State government has health centre. till now filed 11 First Information Re- l Community construction was taken ports with the anti-corruption depart- under personal possession and for per- ment against those found guilty by the sonal use. Bannalal committee. l Ghost entries in muster rolls. Analysing the Growth l Four water storage tanks were con- The second phase of Public Hearings structed, which are unusable. registered a definite growth over the first 40 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN and campaign was more mature. These corruption and its ways kept on driv- Public Hearings showed a dramatic in- ing home the efficacy of the method crease in the participation and mobili- and hence increasing its popularity. sation of people. The prolonged and The change in the circumstances be- high profile mass movement for the peo- tween the first phase and the second ple’s Right to Information in the State phase was such that the Jan Sunwais and its success in getting the entitlement could no longer be ignored by either the first in the Panchayati Raj Act rules and elected Panchayat functionaries or the then as a general law did help in creat- administration. While the first phase of ing widespread awareness of the issues Jan Sunwais was assiduously boycotted involved and their significance. This be- by the Sarpanches and the local admin- came a major factor in the popularity istration, this was not the case in the sec- of the Jan Sunwai. And with the suc- ond phase. The presence of the admin- cess of each Jan Sunwai, the attendance, istration in the Jan Sunwais gave more the participation, the involvement and focus to the follow-up of the findings the mobilisation kept increasing. of a Hearing despite all hurdles. The success of the movement in fi- The second phase of Jan Sunwais was nally obtaining the entitlement also ef- also far more dramatic in impact than The second phase of fected a sea change in another respect. the first phase. Though an obdurate ad- Public Hearings Even if people at various levels of ministrative machinery kept on thwart- showed a dramatic administration continued exposing ing justice in established cases of cor- increase in the themselves by thwarting efforts at ac- ruption, the Jan Sunwais did establish participation and cessing information, the legal entitle- the power of public shame as witnessed mobilisation of people ment made it impossible beyond a in the return of the embezzled amount point to sustain such stonewalling in by some Sarpanches. The second phase the face of the singularity of purpose of Jan Sunwais are also marked by the and tenacity of the people or organi- worsting of powerful vested interests sation pursuing information. by the collective strength of the peo- The major achievement of the second ple. Each such success made a breach phase of Jan Sunwais was in terms of in the wall of feudal fear that charac- the scale of corruption and the com- terises a typical Rajasthan village, plex operations and nexus behind it helped put the finger on the conver- that they unearthed. Corruption at the gence between feudal inequities and the village level affects the people directly pathologies of contemporary practices by robbing them of their various other of development and politics and thus entitlements. Therefore, the success helped make the Jan Sunwai a continu- of each Jan Sunwai in exposing such ously growing mass movement.

Maturing Methodology 41 CHAPTER IV

Fallout

This chapter deals with the fallout of the MKSS movement in Rajasthan: the question of transparency in civil society, RTI movement elsewhere in Rajasthan and the lateral impact of the movement in the Right to Food agitation and the women’s movement.

The Question of Transparency public scrutiny. It did so soon in 1997. in Civil Society This set an example of sorts for volun- tary organisations in the State. There fol- As the MKSS movement gathered mo- lowed a small series of Transparency mentum, the question of transparency meetings organised by Praytna, Dudu in in non-government organisations As the MKSS 1999 and SARA, Sikar and Social Work (NGOs) and citizens’ bodies working movement gathered and Research Centre, Jawaja in 2000. But with the community also came to the momentum, the all these organisations belong to the fore. This was partly as a logical theo- question of SWRC family and it is a pity that many retical extension of the demand for transparency in non- of the other big NGOs in Rajasthan and transparency in discharge of public du- government the country did not buy the idea, though ties, and partly as a result of the gov- organisations (NGOs) the URMUL family active in Western ernment and local backlash which and citizens’ bodies Rajasthan had transparency, including its started questioning the bona fides of working with the own transparency, and the Right to In- those institutionally funded organisa- community also came formation as the theme of its annual con- tions that came out in support of the to the fore ference in the year 2000. MKSS movement. It began during the peak of the MKSS RTI Agitation Elsewhere in Dharna in Jaipur. Some BJP politicians, Rajasthan led by one Ramakant Sharma, an MLA Apart from the MKSS area, exercise of from Alwar district and a former bureau- RTI by the people elsewhere in crat, made certain allegations against Rajasthan has been slow to grow and is SWRC, Tilonia, the organisation founded picking up only now. In the initial phase by Aruna Roy’s husband Bunker Roy. It of the movement in 1996-97, two Jan was alleged that the SWRC was divert- Sunwais were held at Sare Khurd in ing funds provided for education and Alwar district and Bisalpur in Tonk rural development by donor institutions district on the question of eviction to the MKSS agitation and other ends. from land and homes because of indus- In any case, as an active supporter of trialisation and construction of a dam the Transparency cause, the SWRC was respectively. These Jan Sunwais, held already thinking of a Transparency Meet- under the aegis of the Bharat Gyan ing to open up its accounts and works to Vigyan Samiti and Bisalpur Bandh

42 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN Samanway Samiti respectively, differed way it has influenced interaction be- with each other in experience. The first tween the state machinery, at the upper was not persistently followed at various level at least, and citizens’ bodies in cer- levels and its failure to make an impact tain other aspects resulting in a lateral is a pointer to the constraints witnessed impact not thought of before. in the exercise of RTI without appro- Right to Food Agitation priate organisational and mobilisational backup. The experience of the The most important example of this is Rajasthan Mazdoor Kisan Morcha in the recent citizens’ campaign on the Kishangarh district in 1997-98 in being Right to Food and Food Security in the persistently denied information by ob- State in 2001 in the context of the third durate public officials is also illustrative successive year of drought in Rajasthan. of similar constraints. It made the State part with disaggre- The Bisalpur Jan Sunwai was a more sub- gated information at various levels with A significant fallout of stantial affair in terms of the history of respect to famine relief works, food for work programmes and various other the Right to protest by the Dam oustees in the area Information and the organisational backup and fol- state and central schemes related to em- movement in low-up by the Bisalpur Bandh Samanway ployment and food security. The infor- Rajasthan is the way it Samiti. The Bisalpur agitation for the re- mation thus obtained helped people to has influenced lief and rehabilitation of Dam oustees wrest, through mass agitation, several interaction between still continues, but a series of follow-up concessions from the government with the State machinery, Jan Sunwais in the area and correspond- respect to their food and employment at the upper level at ing civil society networking could have entitlements and forced the government least, and citizens’ had better impact. to rectify gaps in implementation. In fact, the Right to Information law in the bodies in certain other It was during the drought year, 2001, State and the willingness of the State aspects resulting in a that the Right to Information movement government machinery to share infor- lateral impact not was picked up in right earnest outside mation during the drought created an thought of before of the MKSS area in western Rajasthan atmosphere in the State wherein the by the URMUL network of NGOs, general level of corruption in drought though not in the Jan Sunwai mode. The relief work in Rajasthan in the years URMUL campaign was successful in 2001 and 2002 seemed to have come many ways in curtailing corruption in down. In Nokha Tehsil of Bikaner Dis- the government food for work pro- trict, the Sarpanches tried to shirk off gramme for famine relief. Though the the ever vigilant monitoring by a citi- initiative was largely activist dependent zens’ group, the Jagruk Nagrik Manch, and fell short on mass mobilisation, for by refusing to take up the drought re- the first time an RTI agitation has shown lief work in the area. Thankfully, this real promise outside of the MKSS area. tactic did not succeed. Lateral Impact To its credit, the government machin- A significant fallout of the Right to In- ery in the State did not hesitate to formation movement in Rajasthan is the share records and documents with the

Fallout 43 agitating citizens’ network, the Akal Organisations working towards justice for Sangharsh Samiti, Rajasthan, despite women came under the banner of Mahila the adversarial positions they had on Atyachar Virodhi Jan Andolan, Rajasthan several counts. In fact, the information in 1996. After much public agitation obtained from the Rajasthan adminis- against its (government’s) attitude, the tration provided a valuable part of the State government set up a forum of dia- foundation for the Right to Food writ logue and information sharing with the filed by the People’s Union for Civil women’s rights and human rights group Liberties, Rajasthan that has recently under the Chairmanship of the Home Sec- succeeded in getting a Supreme Court retary. This forum met on a monthly ba- order converting various food security sis. Police personnel right from the Addi- schemes of the central government tional Director General of Police and the into legal entitlements for the people Superintendent of Police (women atroci- of India. ties) to lower officials would sit with ac- tivists and kin of the complainant and Atrocities against Women and Hu- scrutinise irregularities or negligence at the man Rights Violations An order was issued police station level in the State on a case by the Home There is another interesting experience by case basis. The fact that this forum pro- Department that in Rajasthan on transparency with re- vided for openness and that any case could information regarding gard to cases of atrocities against be subjected to public scrutiny led the crimes against women women and general human rights viola- police to become more accountable. An would be collated at tions. The Government of Rajasthan order was also issued by the Home De- the district level on a suffered from an attitude of public de- partment that information regarding crimes fortnightly basis and nial on the issue of increasing crimes against women would be collated at the at the state level on a against women. Women’s rights and district level on a fortnightly basis and at monthly basis human rights groups found it very diffi- the State level on a monthly basis. Apart cult to prove that there were often de- from the fact that it resulted in each po- lays or irregularities by the police in tak- lice station incharge and each District Su- ing action relating to arrests and filing perintendent of Police working hard to of charge sheets in serious crimes like show that they were swift in responding rape, sexual assault, battering, domes- to cases, it also got the activists informa- tic violence etc. There was no account- tion from the Home Commissioner’s of- ability on the part of the police towards fice and the SP’s office on a regular basis. the people, including the complainant. The success of this forum resulted in The complainant also had no right to similar fora being set up at the district know what was happening to her case. level. Today the message is clear that Human rights and women’s activists had the police and police stations have to no facts to establish either the increas- be transparent, accountable and provide ing vulnerability of women to violence information to the people. This has had or the role of police in manipulating in- a good impact and has resulted in im- vestigations. The police and the Home proved police accountability even with Department were not at all willing to regard to cases of general human rights have any dialogue on this issue. violation and custodial crimes. 44 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN CHAPTER V

Granting the Entitlement

This chapter deals with the State initiatives on the Right to Information, includ- ing the passage of the Rajasthan Act and a comparative analysis of the various State Acts and the Freedom of Information Act, passed by the Parliament in Dec. 2002.

The Rajasthan Act: Through a from the citizens’ draft for its recom- Transparent Process mendations even though they shied away from accepting the citizens’ draft Between 1994 and 1998 in Rajasthan, in toto. The Rajasthan Act, as it was fi- When objections were even as the then government resisted nally adopted, retained many of the sug- raised by the MKSS the idea of a Right to Information Act, gestions of the RTI movement, but di- and the NCPRI, the opposition adopted the MKSS pro- luted others. The Rajasthan Act is Rajasthan, gramme. The opposition Congress somewhat stronger than some state on the absence of party promised a RTI legislation in the Acts like those of Tamilnadu and any citizens’ State in its election manifesto in 1998. Maharashtra but lags behind some representative in the Coming to power in 1998, the new other State Acts like those of Goa, committee, the State Chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, ap- Karnataka and Delhi. But the process government and the pointed a committee of bureaucrats, that was followed in enacting the committee it had set under PN Bhandari, a secretary to the Rajasthan legislation was transparent up invited assistance State government, to draft a RTI bill to and participatory to some extent and from these two be presented in the State Assembly. followed the spirit of the Right to In- organisations to When objections were raised by the formation movement. The Act came prepare the draft bill MKSS and the NCPRI, Rajasthan, on into force only on Jan 26, 2001 - after the absence of any citizens’ representa- the rules were framed. Possibly, the first tive in the committee, the State gov- ever exercise of this Act was by the ernment and the committee it had set MKSS when it obtained the copy of the up invited assistance from these two Bannalal Committee Enquiry report on organisations to prepare the draft bill. corruption in Janawad Panchayat (re- The MKSS and NCPRI held public con- ferred to earlier in this paper). It is still sultations in each divisional headquar- too early to offer a comprehensive ters of Rajasthan and formulated a evaluation of the effect of this Act draft bill on the basis of these consul- in Rajasthan. tations. This draft bill was submitted to the government committee, which Apart from the Act, as stated earlier in invited the NCPRI and MKSS for this paper, Rajasthan also has Right to several rounds of discussions. The Information provisions in the Rules of government committee drew heavily its Panchayati Raj Act granted by the

45 previous State government after a long meant for, but not spent on, construc- struggle. While the power of informa- tion of houses under the Indira Awaas tion unshackled in Public Hearings Yojana, construction of latrines, pay- forced many Sarpanches to concede ment of wages for work under Jawahar fraud and return the embezzled money Rojgar Yojana and other schemes. to the panchayat fund, it also exposed The present State government has tried the fraud committed by the entire chain to institutionalise the experiment of Jan of development administration from the Sunwais by granting Social Audit pow- Panchayat Secretary to Junior Engineer, ers to the Ward Sabhas, the general as- the Block Development Officer, the sembly of all adult members of a vil- Pradhan and the District Administra- lage ward and potentially (though not tion. Not surprisingly, the system has in practice) the most powerful institu- shown such entrenched opposition to tion of self governance. But this is still information sharing with the public, largely an exercise only on paper as underlining the lesson that any loophole The present State holding Ward Sabhas still remains a would be exploited to deny people this government has tried mere formality in most of the States basic entitlement. Hence, the need for to institutionalise the without much effort at mobilising pub- a strong enactment if the legislation is experiment of Jan lic participation. Sunwais by granting to be made meaningful on the ground. Social Audit powers to Towards RTI as Law: the States While attempts by the administrative and the Nation the Ward Sabhas, the machinery to block information general assembly of abound in Rajasthan, one case really It is oft repeated that Courts hold the all adult members of a stands out as being representative of Right to Information as being inherent village ward and the phenomenon. Members of the in the Fundamental Right to Freedom of potentially the most Rajasthan Mazdoor Kisan Morcha, an Speech and Expression granted in the powerful institution of ally of the MKSS and active in Constitution under Article 19(1) (a). (S.P. self governance Kishangarh Tehsil of Ajmer District Gupta v. Union of India, 1981 Supp. SCC sought information related to devel- 87, Secretary, Ministry of I&B v. Cricket opment works of Harmara Panchayat. Association, Bengal, AIR 1995 SC 1411, They had to undergo the ordeal of vis- State of U.P. v. Raj Narain, AIR 1975 SC iting various offices – from the Pancha- 865). But the greater part of the citizens’ yat to the District Collector’s – sixty experience in more than half a century five times between September 1997 of our republic would testify that secrecy and June 1998 in their quest for the has been the norm and transparency the information. Then threatening a exception for our governments and ad- statewide agitation, the RMKM an- ministrators. With public opinion becom- nounced a big rally on the eve of which ing more and more vocal in demanding partial information was released to full operation-alisation of the Right to In- them. Fearing that this information formation in recent years, a process as- would establish irregularities, the sisted nationally by the NCPRI and vari- Sarpanch of Harmara Panchayat dis- ous other groups, various State govern- bursed to the entitled people, money ments have responded by passing laws

46 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN or issuing orders to operationalise this Centre so far. Assam’s Act, passed in important constitutional right. So far, 2002 is being excluded from this as the Tamilnadu, Goa, Rajasthan, Karnataka, English translation was not available at Maharashtra, Assam and Delhi have RTI the time of writing this paper. Acts in place. The Madhya Pradesh As- The Tamilnadu Right to Information sembly also passed a RTI bill, but it Act, 1997 did not get Presidential assent and hence could not become a law. Nev- Though Tamilnadu is credited to be the ertheless, Madhya Pradesh was the first State in India to pass a Right to In- first State to pass Right to Informa- formation Act, it did not win much plau- tion orders with respect to a number dit from the NCPRI on account of its of areas of governance. Like various perceived weaknesses. Passed Rajasthan, Kerala has the Right to In- by the Legislative Assembly in the first formation provisions in its Panchayati half of 1997, it received the assent of Raj Act. The climactic point in the the governor on 4th May, 1997 and was State initiatives in this regard is the notified the next day. passage of Freedom of Information The ‘information’ to which the The Right to Act, 2002 by the Indian Parliament in Tamilnadu Act gives people access is Information initiatives Dec. 2002. The President of India defined as including “copy of any docu- at the state and gave his assent to this on Jan.11, 2003. ment relating to the affairs of the State national levels denote This series of welcome initiatives de- or any local or other authorities consti- recognition by the note recognition by the Indian State of tuted under any Act for the time being Indian State of a a significant entitlement and inalien- in force or a statutory authority or a com- significant entitlement able right that the Constitution has pany, corporation or a co-operative so- and inalienable right granted to every Indian citizen. But at ciety or any organisation owned or con- that the Constitution has granted to every the same time it would not be unchari- trolled by the Government”. This defi- Indian citizen table to say, in the light of grassroot nition gives people the right to informa- democratic experience and rational ex- tion pertaining to all activities of the pectations, that the various State Acts State government, panchayats and mu- and the central Freedom of Informa- nicipal bodies of Tamilnadu and all au- tion Act, 2002 seek to impose unrea- tonomous bodies, indulging in business sonable restrictions on a Fundamental or other activity, owned or controlled by Right granted by the Constitution. It the State government. This definition would be pertinent to examine them in excludes not only private bodies inde- the light of certain criteria for a good pendent of the government from the RTI law evolved by the NCPRI through Act’s purview but bodies receiving gov- widespread debate and grassroots ex- ernment aid and not technically owned perience. But before going ahead with or controlled by the State government. this analysis, it would be useful to take a summary look at the salient features Under the Tamilnadu Act, information of the various Right to Information is not necessarily accessible at the point laws passed by the states and the where it is generated or stored, but at

Granting the Entitlement 47 the level of a government official not analysis of alternative policy options and below the rank of a deputy collector information relating to rejected policy who is defined as the “competent au- options; and confidential communica- thority” in the Act. This means to ob- tions between departments, public bod- tain any information relating to the af- ies and regulatory bodies. fairs of a village panchayat, a person Information relating to confidential com- will have to come to the district head- munications between ministers and the quarters – a daunting prospect for a Governor; and information whose dis- person constrained by time and means. closure would prejudice the administra- By referring to the ‘bona fide’ of the tion of justice, including fair trial and person seeking information (3 (1) of the enforcement and proper administra- the Act), the Tamilnadu law puts a tion of the law are also exempted from sweeping instrument in the hands of disclosure. As if the point about admin- the official concerned for rejecting any istration of justice was not enough, the request for information. It leaves it to Act goes on to exempt “information the subjective opinion of an individual whose disclosure would prejudice legal The Tamilnadu Act officer to decide the bona fides or mala proceedings or the proceedings of any goes into meticulous fides of a petitioner and is violative of tribunal, public inquiry or other formal detail while listing the principle of the absoluteness of a investigation ...... ”. In fact the Act cov- areas where human right which can only be limited ers as many exemptions related to legal information is made by reasonable restrictions. proceedings, safety and security and or- inaccessible or In fact, the Tamilnadu Act goes into der as it can: for instance, information enumerating grounds meticulous detail while listing areas covered by legal professional privilege; on which it can be where information is made inaccessible information whose disclosure would withheld or enumerating grounds on which it can prejudice the prevention, investigation be withheld. The information made in- or detection of crime and the apprehen- accessible includes that relating to de- sion of offenders; information whose fence security; that which will prejudice disclosure would harm public safety or the security, integrity and sovereignty of public order; and information whose the Nation and the State; that which disclosure would endanger the life and would harm the conduct of interna- physical safety of any person or iden- tify the source of information or assist- tional relations or affairs; that which is received in confidence from foreign gov- ance given in confidence for law enforce- ernments, foreign courts or international ment or security purposes. organisations; and that which would Other exemptions in the Act pertain to harm the frankness and candour of in- likelihood of damage to the environment ternal discussion. This last point includes of rare and endangered species and their proceedings of cabinet and cabinet habitats; the ability of the government committees; internal opinion, advice, to manage the economy etc.; and the recommendations, consultation and de- assessment and collection of taxes, du- liberation; projections and assumptions ties etc.; “commercial confidences, trade relating to internal policy analysis; secrets or intellectual property. The

48 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN exemptions also include information essential services and supplies”. The in- whose disclosure could lead to improper vocation of blanket terms like ‘public in- gain or advantage or would prejudice terest’ and ‘public order’ leave the grant- the competitive position of a depart- ing of a right to information request ment or other public body and the ne- purely at the subjective mercy of the gotiation or the effective conduct of competent authority. As a matter of fact, personnel management or commercial with the long list of exemptions and or contractual activities. Information grounds of refusal, the Tamilnadu Act supplied in confidence by a person is reads more like a prohibitive Official also excluded from disclosure as is in- Secrets Act rather than a law that makes formation whose disclosure is prohib- information accessible. ited under any enactment, regulation Another feature of the Tamilnadu Right and international agreement, and infor- to Information Act that drew adverse mation that will constitute a breach of public attention is an omission. The Act parliament/assembly/legislative coun- does not prescribe any penalty for The Tamilnadu Right cil privilege. The exceptions include willfully withholding or delaying infor- to Information Act documents referred in section 123 and mation. The Tamilnadu Act is thus ren- does not prescribe 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 dered toothless and sounds more like an any penalty for willfully and any matter which is likely to help expression of good intent than an effec- withholding or the commission of offence, help or fa- tive law. As far as the time period for delaying information. cilitate escape from legal custody or af- providing information is concerned, The Tamilnadu Act is fect prison security or impede the proc- there is again a bit of sabotage in the thus rendered ess of investigation or apprehension or fine print of the Act. It prescribes a limit toothless and sounds prosecution of offenders. This last point of 30 working days from the receipt of more like an sounds very much like a repetition of application for passing “orders either expression of good similar provisions related to the admin- granting or refusing the request” and not intent than an istration of justice. In fact, many exemp- for actually making available the docu- effective law tions are merely finer repetitions of the ment asked for. As for the provision for others in this long list. a suo moto or proactive information shar- Not satisfied with this long list of ex- ing by the government, it is too much to ceptions, the Tamilnadu Act provides expect from such an Act. The Tamilnadu further grounds for the rejection of a right Act, however, does provide for an ap- to information request. A request may peal if any request is rejected. But the be rejected if the competent authority appeal prescribed is only an internal one thinks that the disclosure “is likely to to a higher authority within the govern- cause violence, or disharmony among a ment and not outside it. section of the people on the basis of re- The Goa Right to Information Act, ligion, language, caste, creed, community 1997 or if it is prejudicial to public interest”. It may also be rejected if the disclosure As it stands, the Goa Right to Informa- “would be prejudicial to the maintenance tion law was notified on Dec. 2, 1997 of public order or maintenance of after the Governor’s assent on Oct. 29,

Granting the Entitlement 49 1997. It was passed as it exists now by to withhold information, which will not the Goa Assembly on July 31, 1997. In subserve any ‘public interest’. Informa- its previous avatar earlier that year, the tion relating to an individual’s affairs or Goa Act had stringent provisions to personal privacy is rightfully exempted punish what it called the mala fide use from disclosure as is information that of information, which was perceived as would endanger the life or physical safety anti-freedom of press by the Goa jour- of any person or identify the source of nalists. In the face of a stiff agitation by information or assistance given in con- them, that Act was amended to its fidence for law enforcement or security present form. purposes or in public interest. The re- strictions also include papers submitted Drawing heavily from the draft bill pre- to the Governor for discharge of his pared by the Press Council of India with constitutional function; disclosure preju- inputs from the NCPRI, the Goa Right dicially affecting centre-state relations; to Information Act was a great improve- trade and commercial secrets and other To lessen misuse of ment on Tamilnadu’s. It defined infor- information protected by law; and in- the exemptions mation in such a way as to expand the formation that would constitute a breach provisions, the Goa scope of the Act beyond Tamilnadu’s of parliamentary or legislative privilege. Act introduced a to also include - apart from State gov- proviso that was ernment departments, local bodies, gov- To lessen misuse of the exemptions subsequently ernment controlled and owned organi- provisions, the Goa Act introduced a emulated by some sations – any other organisation execut- proviso that was subsequently emu- other states. It says, ing any public work or service on be- lated by some other states. It says, “in- “information which half of, or authorised by, the govern- formation which cannot be denied to cannot be denied to ment. So this would also include private the State Legislature shall not be de- the State Legislature bodies engaged in public work. The Goa nied to any person.” shall not be denied to Act also has a wider definition of the A major improvement in the Goa law any person.” Right to Information that includes the over that of Tamilnadu is that there is a right to inspect and obtain copies of any provision for penalties in case of delib- document or record and even “taking erate withholding of information or de- samples of material”. lay in making it available. The penalty As compared to Tamilnadu, the Goa Act provision in the Goa Act provides for also shortens the list of restrictions on disciplinary departmental action against the Right to Information. It prohibits the the erring official and also levy of a per- disclosure of information prejudicially sonal fine of Rs.100 per day for every affecting the sovereignty and integrity day of delay beyond the stipulated 30 of India or security of the State or In- working day period. In another improve- ternational relations or Public Order or ment over Tamilnadu, Goa has an ex- administration of justice or Investiga- ternal appeal to the Administrative Tri- tion of an offence or which leads to in- bunal against the former’s provision of citement to an offence. But another pro- an internal appeal. Again, in the Goa vision does leave scope for the subjec- Act, there is no restriction for a ‘com- tive proclivity of a competent authority petent authority’ to be above the rank

50 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN of a deputy collector. The Goa Act also nearer to the latter in letter and spirit. prescribes a fee for making copies of The Act does not extend to all the pub- documents available. The fee includes lic activities of the private sector and the cost of processing and reproduction. NGOs, as advocated by the Press With reports of exorbitant fees in the Council draft bill and the national cam- name of processing cost, a ceiling of paign. And unlike the Goa Act, it also Rs.100 as processing fee was imposed does not cover private bodies execut- by a subsequent amendment. ing public works either on behalf of A very significant feature of the Goa the government or under its authorisa- Act is the provision for a State Coun- tion. But the definition of ‘public body’ cil for the Right to Information. in the Act does extend its scope to a Headed by the Minister in charge of body “receiving substantial financial the Administrative Reforms depart- assistance from the State government”. ment and with official and non-official In fact, in this matter, the provisions members, the Council is supposed to of the Rajasthan Act are closer to that promote right to information in the of Tamilnadu than Goa. State. For this, it would review the op- In defining the right to information, the eration of the Act and its rules; review Rajasthan Act closely follows the Goa A very significant the administrative arrangements and one and includes within its purview ob- feature of the Goa Act procedures to operationalise the Act; taining certified copies of documents or is the provision for a conduct research and documentation records; inspection of accessible records State Council for the for the management of information and documents and taking notes and Right to Information with a view to improve its extent and extracts from them; inspection of pub- accuracy; and to advise the government lic works; and taking samples of mate- on training, development and orienta- rial from public works. In the system of tion of its employees to bring in the appeal, the Rajasthan law incorporates culture of openness and transparency. features of both the Tamilnadu and the A very significant provision in the Goa Goa Acts in that it provides for an in- Act stipulates giving information relat- ternal as well as external appeal. The ap- ing to the life and liberty of a person peal system in the Rajasthan Act is in within 48 hours even though the nor- fact multi-layered. The first appeal is to mal time limit is 30 working days from the next higher authority in the govern- the date of the receipt of application. ment and second appeal is external, but to different bodies at the district and The Rajasthan Right to Information state levels. For any denial of informa- Act, 2000 tion up to the district level, the second The process behind the passage of the appeal would be made to the District Rajasthan Act has already been dealt Public Grievances cum Vigilance Com- with earlier in this chapter. The Act it- mittee with official and non-official self falls somewhere between the members and chaired by the district Tamilnadu and Goa Acts, but is a big collector. In cases going beyond the dis- improvement over the former and trict level, the Rajasthan Civil Services

Granting the Entitlement 51 Appellate Tribunal would deal with the quantum to be prescribed by the gov- second appeal. By imposing the penal ernment from time to time. And im- provision of disciplinary departmental proving on the Tamilnadu and Goa laws, action for willfully denying information, the Rajasthan Act directs the State gov- the Rajasthan Act is an improvement on ernment for proactive or suo moto shar- Tamilnadu’s but falls short of the Goa ing of information vital to the public provision for simultaneously levying a interest. The Rajasthan Act shortens the personal fine on the errant official for a time limit for providing information by delay in making information available. making it 30 days, instead of ‘30 work- The exemptions and grounds for refusal ing days’, from the date of receipt of in the Rajasthan Act are fewer in the application. Similarly, the disposal number and less sweeping than the of appeal is also time bound with The Rajasthan Act Tamilnadu Act, but more than Goa’s. 30 days as the limit. also has an insidious They total 10 in Rajasthan compared The Maharashtra Right to ground for refusing an to Tamilnadu’s 24 and Goa’s 10. Over Information Act, 2000 information request. and above that of Goa’s in substance, th Information can be Rajasthan has provisions prohibiting dis- Passed on the 18 of July, 2000, the withheld on the ground closures that would harm the candour Maharashtra Act rivaled Tamilnadu’s in that the request is too of internal discussions like cabinet pa- public criticism. As originally passed, the general and the pers, departmental notes etc., disclo- list of exemptions in the Act, 22 in volume of information sures which would prejudice the gov- number, were nearly as prohibitive and required would involve ernment’s ability to manage the exhaustive as in Tamilnadu’s, and so it disproportionate economy, information referred to in the is unnecessary to enumerate them here. diversion of resources Indian Evidence Act, and some more The Maharashtra Act too did not pro- of a public authority or information related to the administra- vide for any penalty for willfully with- would adversely tion of justice and law and order mat- holding information or delaying making interfere with the ters. Besides, the Rajasthan Act also has it available, and was as toothless as the functioning of such an additional insidious ground for re- Tamilnadu Act in this regard. The ques- authority fusing an information request. Informa- tion of internal or external appeal was tion can be withheld on the ground that left vague in the Maharashtra Act by pro- the request is too general and the vol- viding for an appeal to the government ume of information required would in- or an authority to be prescribed by it. volve disproportionate diversion of re- As far as the time lime limit was con- sources of a public authority or would cerned, the Maharashtra Act followed adversely interfere with the functioning Goa and Tamilnadu in making it 30 of such authority. The exemption pro- working days. It also did not have any visions in Rajasthan do not have the provisions for a suo moto or proactive redeeming Goa proviso that guarantees information sharing by the govern- access to information which cannot be ment. In the scope of the Act and the denied to the State legislature. definition of the competent authority, The Rajasthan Act too levies a fee for the Maharashtra Act literally followed providing information, but leaves its the Tamilnadu provisions. It excluded

52 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN private bodies completely from its pur- The Karnataka Act too, like Rajasthan, view and prohibited getting informa- provides for suo moto or proactive shar- tion from anyone below the rank of ing of information of which one par- deputy collector. ticular provision is particularly signifi- cant: “before sanctioning or initiating or In the light of severe public criticism causing to sanction or initiate any led by the well-known anti-corruption project, scheme or activity as may be campaigner and social worker Anna specified by the State government, pub- Hazare, Maharashtra passed an amen- lish or communicate to the public gen- ded Right to Information Act in the erally or to the persons affected or likely second half of 2002 which intro- to be affected by the project, scheme or duced suo moto information sharing by activity in particular in such manner as the government in certain respects may be prescribed, the facts available and made some other minor changes. In the light of severe to it or to which it has reasonable ac- Since the amended Act was not yet public criticism led cess which in its opinion should be notified and an English copy of it was by the well-known known to them in the best interests of not yet available at the time of writ- anti-corruption maintenance of democratic principles.” ing this paper, its summary is not campaigner and being offered here. Compared even to Rajasthan and Goa, social worker Anna the Karnataka Act shortens the normal Hazare, Maharashtra The Karnataka Right to Information time limit to 15 working days for pro- passed an amended Act, 2000 viding information. But unlike Goa’s pro- Right to Information The Karnataka Act could be placed vision of giving information in matters Act in the second half close to Rajasthan’s in terms of civil of life and liberty, Karnataka does not of 2002 which society approval. It is certainly much have any stipulation of meeting requests introduced suo moto better than Tamilnadu and Maharashtra. urgent in nature. The time limit for the information sharing by The exceptions list is shorter than these disposal of appeals is 30 days. Penalty the government in two states and is closer to Rajasthan’s provisions in the Karnataka Act are more certain respects and though a bit longer than Goa’s. The stringent than Rajasthan. For an unrea- made some other Karnataka Act has 8 exemptions plus sonable rejection of request or delay in minor changes four additional grounds of refusal com- meeting it, Karnataka has a provision of pared to Rajasthan’s 10. But unlike imposition of personal fine on the errant Rajasthan, it does not extend access of official not exceeding Rs. 2000, apart information to the inspection of pub- from departmental disciplinary action. lic works and obtaining samples of ma- The Karnataka Act too provides, like terial from a public works site. It, how- Rajasthan, two layers of appeal. The first ever, extends it another direction (in appeal would be within the government keeping with its techno-savvy image) and the second one would be made to to all sorts of electronically stored in- the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal. Un- formation. There is no prescription like Goa, the Karnataka Act has no of rank for the competent authority - provision for a State Council for the unlike the Tamilnadu and the Mahara- Right to Information. The fee in shtra Acts. Karnataka is not exorbitant and is not

Granting the Entitlement 53 to exceed the actual cost of supplying available. But in the absence of an up- information. per ceiling like Goa, the Delhi Act is vul- nerable to abuse. The Delhi Right to Information Act, 2001 The Central Enactment: Freedom of Information Act , 2002 Delhi is the newest entrant to the club of states with a Right to Information The central enactment on the subject law. Its Act too is in the same league as took long in coming. It took more than the Rajasthan and Karnataka Acts. With five years between the appointment of 8 exemptions, the exceptions list is a bit the HD Shourie Committee and the pas- shorter than Rajasthan and Karnataka sage of the final Act by both Houses of but slightly longer than Goa. The pen- the Parliament in Dec. 2002. The main alty provision of disciplinary action stages in the formulation of the Act against the errant official is akin to were: recommendations of the Shourie Rajasthan and less stringent than Goa Committee; based on these recommen- As far as access to and Karnataka. dations (but diluting them in the proc- information is The appeal provision is similar to Goa’s ess), formulation and tabling of the concerned, the Delhi Draft Freedom of Information Bill, Act combines the best with a single external appeal to the Pub- lic Grievances Committee. The time 2000; reference of the Bill to the Par- features of the liamentary Standing committee on Rajasthan, Goa and limit for making information available is 30 days, though it is stipulated that Home Affairs that invited depositions the Karnataka Acts to normally it should be 15 days. The time from several stakeholders; and tabling extend access to limit for the disposal of appeal in the and passage of the revised Freedom of samples of material of Delhi Act is also 30 days. The provi- Information Bill, 2002. Instead of go- public works and sions for the suo moto or proactive shar- ing into details of each stage, it would electronically stored ing of information by the government be relevant only to take a quick look at information in the Delhi Act is akin to Karnataka’s. the final product, i.e., the Freedom of Information Act, 2002. As far as access to information is con- cerned, the Delhi Act combines the best The first significant departure that the features of the Rajasthan, Goa and the central Act makes from that of all the Karnataka Acts to extend access to sam- seven states is in the nomenclature itself. ples of material of public works and Here we have a Freedom of Information electronically stored information. Like Act instead of the Right to Information Rajasthan, the Delhi Act covers private Acts passed by the states (emphasis ours). bodies to the extent that they are sub- Even though Freedom of Information stantially funded by the government, but has been defined as the ‘right to obtain it goes beyond Rajasthan to cover con- Information’ in section 2(C) of the Act, stitutional bodies (which would include the difference in the nomenclature is sig- the courts, Lokayukta’s office etc.). In nificant in that it suggests that though the matter of fees, the Delhi Act fol- one is free to access information, it is not lows the Goa provision of including a natural right i.e. a right a human being the cost of processing and making it is born with. In keeping with this subtle

54 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN shift, the central Act has a short pream- party is 20 days. Even though the dead- ble, setting a limit to this freedom (‘con- line for disclosing information under sistent with public interest’) even as it the Act is 30 days from the day of re- proclaims its purpose: ‘in order to pro- ceipt of a request in normal circum- mote openness, transparency and ac- stances, it extends to 60 days where countability in administration’. the information sought is regarding a The Freedom of Information Act, 2002 third party. If the period of two ap- covers only the organs of the State peals available to the third party is which include, apart from the execu- counted, it could well be five months tive, the legislature and the judiciary before one can obtain information re- and leaves out the whole of private sec- garding a third party, if one can obtain tor, including the corporate world and it at all. the non-profit non-government organi- The Act enjoins ‘public authority’, (a The Freedom of sations. The Act applies to all three term that encompasses all bodies cov- Information Act, 2002 tiers of the government – the centre, ered by the Act), to maintain records covers only the the state and the local government – properly, duly catalogued and indexed, organs of the State and its various agencies and bodies. and provides for the appointment of which include, apart Even though information about non- Public Information Officers for dissemi- from the executive, state actors like the corporate sector nation of information. Significantly, the the legislature and the and the NGOs is theoretically accessi- Act provides for proactive or suo moto judiciary and leaves ble under its provisions through the disclosure of certain kinds of informa- out the whole of regulatory, monitoring and enforce- tion by a public authority like: ment agencies of the government, the private sector, Act goes to great lengths to protect non- l the particulars of its organisation, including the state players, which would be covered functions and duties. corporate world by the term ‘third party’ used in the Act and the non-profit l the powers and duties of its officers non-government along with State agencies that are not and employees and the procedure fol- organisations recipients of information requests but lowed by them in the decision mak- about whom information is being ing process. sought, by laying down a lengthy and cumbersome process for obtaining in- l the norms set by the public authority formation from them. for the discharge of its functions. The Act explicitly states that no infor- l rules, regulations, instructions, manual mation given in confidence by a third and other categories of records under party can be disclosed unless there is its control used by its employees for an overriding public interest angle that discharging its functions. is to be determined by the competent l the details of facilities available to citi- authority. Moreover, for any informa- zens for obtaining information, and tion sought regarding a third party, the latter would be given a reasonable l the name, designation and other hearing before any decision is taken. particulars of the Public Information The time limit for notice to the third Officer;

Granting the Entitlement 55 But the most important kinds of information. The restrictions in the Act proactive or suo moto information that can be put into three categories: theme Freedom of Information Act, 2002 pro- or subject restrictions wherein certain vides for in its section 4 are contained thematic areas or subjects have been in the following clauses: made inaccessible for information; in- stitutional restrictions wherein certain (c) Publish all relevant facts concerning institutions, agencies or departments important decisions and policies that have been exempted; and procedural affect the public while announcing such restrictions wherein information is re- decisions and policies; stricted on grounds of procedure. (d) Give reasons for its decisions, The Freedom of Information Act, whether administrative or quasi-judicial 2002 keeps a whole lot of subjects out to those affected by such decisions; of bounds for citizens seeking Infor- (e) Before initiating any project, publish mation. For instance, information, the or communicate to the public generally disclosure of which would prejudi- Any law is significant, or to the persons affected, or likely to cially affect: be affected, by the project in particular, and hence is l the sovereignty and integrity of India, the facts available to it or to which it evaluated, with regard security of the State, strategic scien- has reasonable access and which, in its to two aspects: what it tific or economic interest of India or opinion, should be known to them in the allows or enables and conduct of international relations; what it restricts. And best interest of natural justice and pro- the list of restrictions or motion of democratic principles. l public safety and order, detection and investigation of an offence or exemptions is fairly Even though the deadline for providing which may lead to an incitement to long in the Freedom of information on request is 30 days, the Information Act, 2002 Act provides for disclosure of informa- commit an offence or prejudicially tion within 48 hours of asking in mat- affect fair trial or adjudication of a ters where the life and liberty of a per- pending case; son is at stake. But quite significantly, l the conduct of Centre-State rela- the Act does not prescribe for any pen- tions, including information ex- alty in the case of willful non-compli- changed in confidence between the ance. It does provide for two tiers of Central and State Governments or appeal where the aggrieved person any of their authorities or agencies. thinks (s)he has been wrongly denied Other subjects out of bounds to citi- information, but both appeals are within zens are: the system i.e. within the government. l cabinet papers including records of Any law is significant, and hence is deliberation of the Council of Min- evaluated, with regard to two aspects: isters, Secretaries and other officers; what it allows or enables and what it restricts. And the list of restrictions or l minutes or records of advice includ- exemptions is fairly long in the Freedom ing legal advice, opinions or recom- of Information Act, 2002. Some would mendations made by any officer of a say it outweighs the areas opened up for public authority during the decision 56 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN making process prior to the executive Act empowers the State governments decision or policy formulation; to add, by a notification, their own se- curity and intelligence organisations, l trade or commercial secrets pro- tected by law or information, the dis- similar to those of the central govern- closure of which would prejudicially ment, to this list. The central govern- affect the legitimate economic and ment also by a notification can add any commercial interests or the competi- other security organisation to this tive position of a public authority, Schedule at a future date, if it so de- or would cause unfair gain or loss to sires. Among procedural restrictions, any person; and the significant one is one which says that a public information officer may l information, the disclosure of which reject a request for information “where may result in the breach of privileges such request is too general in nature As far as institutional of Parliament or the Legislature of or is of such a nature that, having re- restrictions go, a a State, or contravention of a lawful gard to the volume of information re- significant exemption order of a court. quired to be retrieved or processed is the whole of the To its credit, however, the Act does would involve unreasonable diversion private sector, provide for declassification of informa- of the resources of a public authority including the tion related to the above mentioned or would adversely interfere with the corporate world and subjects after a period of 25 years. functioning of such (public) authority”. the non-profit non Another subject restriction, provided This has a qualifier as follows: “pro- governmental elsewhere in the Act, is any informa- vided that where such request is re- organisations. But tion, the disclosure of which would jected on the ground that the request more significant is the cause the unwarranted invasion of the is too general, it would be the duty of blanket exclusion of privacy of a person. the Public Information Officer to security and As far as institutional restrictions go, render help as far as possible to the intelligence a significant exemption, of course, is person making request to reframe his organisations and any the whole of the private sector, includ- request in such a manner as may fa- information provided ing the corporate world and the non- cilitate compliance with it.” But this by them to the profit non-governmental organisations. qualifier does not cover the grounds of government But more significant is the blanket ex- unreasonable diversion of resources clusion of security and intelligence or- and adverse interference with the func- ganisations and any information pro- tioning of the public authority as rea- vided by them to the government, sons for denying information. Another which also covers their non-security example of procedural restriction is the and non-intelligence functions and great lengths to which the Act goes to possible abuse of their powers. The protect ‘third party’ interest. Schedule in the Act, which lists some Campaign Criteria for Strong 19 such agencies of the central gov- Legal Provisions ernment and the Union Territories, also cleverly includes vigilance and With this summary of state laws and the anti-corruption bureaus and revenue central Act, it is time to measure them enforcement agencies. Moreover, the and other draft legislations against the

Granting the Entitlement 57 criteria evolved by the public campaign The most blatant of these exemptions on the Right to Information. in the FOI Act, 2002 is the Schedule of security and intelligence organisations Unreasonable Restrictions: Case that keeps them out of the purview of for Minimal Exemptions the proposed law. Even the states have As interpreted by the Supreme Court, been given the option of adding their right to information flows from Arti- own security and police organisations to cle 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Hence this list. It is an irony that while the Bill any restriction on this right has to be provides for giving information in 48 justified only on the exceptions allowed hours where the life and liberty of a per- by the Constitution itself in Arti- son is concerned, it exempts those or- cle 19(2). This Article allows only “rea- ganisations that are most often accused sonable restrictions” and only on the of illegally violating civil liberties and grounds of “sovereignty and integrity of human rights, including the right to life, India, the security of the State, friendly from the purview of the proposed law. relations with foreign states, public or- Moreover, excluding such organisations No Act can take away der, decency or morality, or in relation as vigilance and anti-corruption bureaus or restrict what is to contempt of court, defamation or in- and revenue enforcement agencies from already provided citement of an offence”. The burden to the purview of the Act would only put under the Constitution. prove that the restrictions are within the the course of various corruption cases An Act is only there to constitutional limits lies on the Govern- under a shroud of secrecy. This is a ne- operationalise a ment (Secretary, Ministry of I&B v. gation of the essential lesson learnt from constitutional right, not Cricket Association, Bengal, AIR 1995 the grassroots public audit campaign to restrict it beyond the SC 1236). If the government fails to do in Rajasthan. this, the Judiciary would be perfectly jus- Constitution An exemption clause which can prove tified in striking down those portions of quite restrictive in the FOI Act, 2002, the Act which prove to be unreasonable in a blanket way so to say, is the one or are based on grounds not allowed by allowing the competent authority to the Constitution. withhold any information on the ground The Freedom of Information Act, 2002 that it interferes with the work of a gov- and all the state laws mentioned above ernment office or involves a dispropor- envisage numerous exemptions, which tionate expenditure in collecting it. are restrictions on the right to informa- Covering Private Bodies tion. The Tamilnadu Act takes the cake with a total of 23 exemptions. Many are Another point relates to exclusion of not justifiable on the grounds of Article private bodies like companies, NGOs, 19(2) and hence are unconstitutional. etc. in the Freedom of Information Act, No Act can take away or restrict what 2002 from the obligation to provide in- is already provided under the Constitu- formation pertaining to the public tion. An Act is only there to opera- sphere. It would be pertinent to point tionalise a constitutional right, not to out in this context that the language of restrict it beyond the Constitution. Article 19(1) - ‘All citizens shall have

58 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN the right ...’ – makes it clear that this is citizens and handing these arenas over a right of general import and universal to private organisations. And it would applicability. In contrast are Articles like be in the fitness of things that private Article 14, which are a negative right organisations too be made transparent available only against State action and and accountable to the public they serve. are worded like: ‘The State shall not The Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, which deny.....’. So, rights that do not restrict killed thousands, is a grim reminder that explicitly their application against the leaving the private sector out of the State only are available universally transparency and public accountability against the entire world, including the net could lead to unmitigated disaster. private sector. This was clarified in Peo- With regard to the inclusion of private ples Union for Democratic Rights v. sector operating in the public sphere Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 1473 Su- within the purview of any meaningful It would be in the preme Court. Other Articles of like Right to Information legislation, we ad- fitness of things that wording are, inter alia, Article 17, 23 and vocate the excellent provision contained private organisations 24. Since the right to information flows in the draft Press Council-NIRD Bill on too be made from Article 19(1) that has such a wide the Subject, which defines “public au- transparent and sweep as to include the private sector thority” as including- accountable to the also, a legislation cannot legally exclude l the Government and Parliament of public they serve. The private parties from its purview. This India and the Government and Leg- Bhopal gas tragedy of would also in a way amount to impos- islature of each of the States and lo- 1984, which killed ing an unreasonable, and hence uncon- cal or other authorities within the ter- thousands, is a grim stitutional, restriction on a constitu- ritory of India or under the control reminder that leaving tional right. It is relevant to recall that of the Government of India; and the private sector out the Goa Act, taking its cue from the of the transparency l the Administrative Offices if the Press Council-NIRD draft, does cover and public Courts; and the private sector and the NGOs within accountability net its ambit. l a company, corporation, trust, firm, could lead to society, a co-operative society, or as- unmitigated disaster For the Freedom of Information Act, sociation whether owned or control- 2002 to conform to the Constitution led by the Government or by private and empower the citizen in the light of individuals and institutions; the letter and spirit of the Constitution, our argument is that it should have had The expressions company, corporation, minimal exemptions, not more than trust, firm, society, cooperative society those contained in Article 19(2), and and association shall have the same should have included within its purview meaning as assigned to them in the re- all private organisations operating in the spective Acts under which they are reg- public sphere. Another argument for in- istered. This is quite comprehensive, but clusion of companies, trusts, societies, another blanket clause can be added to associations etc. is that the state is with- it, taking from the South African Con- drawing more and more from the public stitution, so that any oversight is taken arenas which affect the lives of the care of:

Granting the Entitlement 59 l and any other person information to ensure compliance from an obstinate from whom is required for the exer- system. It is a pity that like the cise or protection of any right. Tamilnadu State Right to Information Act, the Central Act provides no pen- The Goa Right to Information Act, 1997 alty at all for non-compliance by errant also echoes the same spirit in different government officials. Other State Acts, words in its definition of Information. like those of Goa, Karnataka and The South African Constitution which Rajasthan, provide for some penalty. grants the Right to Information as a The Rajasthan RTI Act provides for dis- Fundamental Right, gives it an explicit ciplinary action under service rules universal sweep. Section 32 of the whereas Goa and Karnataka subject South African Constitution says: the erring official to discretionary mon- “(1) Everyone has the right of access etary fines apart from disciplinary ac- As far as provisions to – tion under service rules. We submit that of penalty for mere disciplinary action under service non-compliance (a)any information held by the state; and rules would not be effective enough are concerned, it against an erring official as demon- would be interesting (b)any information that is held by an- strated repeatedly in the case of other to take a look at the other person and that is required kinds of routine dereliction of duty by South African Access for the exercise or protection of the government staff. And we suggest to Information any rights.” that fines too should not be a fixed sum Act (s.90) that The Nepali Constitution (s.16) enshrines but a portion of the erring person’s sal- provides for the right to information as a fundamen- ary, say half a day’s salary for each day imprisonment for a tal right and provides that ‘every citi- of delay in giving information beyond period not exceeding zen shall have the right to demand and the stipulated limit. This is because a two years or fine for receive information of any matter of fixed amount would lose its value after destroying, damaging, public importance’. some time as money tends to lose value altering, concealing, over a period of time. Besides, a fixed The Question of Penalties or falsifying a record amount as fine would mean an uneven Apart from the factors of exemptions burden for officials drawing different and applicability, the Freedom of In- levels of salary. formation Act, 2002 falters on the sig- As far as provisions of penalty for non- nificant counts of penalties for non- compliance are concerned, it would be compliance and an independent appeal interesting to take a look at the South mechanism. The grassroots experience African Access to Information Act (s.90) in seeking information under the that provides for imprisonment for a Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act Rules, period not exceeding two years or fine 1996 (recounted earlier in this note) for destroying, damaging, altering, con- convinces one that a law without pen- cealing, or falsifying a record. alty provisions for non-compliance and an independent appeal mechanism out- It is again a pity that the FOI Act, 2002 side of the government/bureaucratic does not provide for an independent apparatus would not have enough teeth appeal outside of the government. In

60 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN this respect, it is regressive compared Suo Moto or Proactive Information to some State Acts like those of Goa, Sharing Rajasthan and Karnataka which pro- It is heartening to see that the FOI Act, vide for external appeals outside of the 2002 provides for suo moto publication system – to the administrative tribu- of certain information in Chapter II nal. Though the Central Act provides called Freedom of Information and for two tiers of appeal, even the sec- Obligations of Public Authorities. A ond appeal is to the government. It is government sharing information ‘an appeal from Caesar to Caesar’ so proactively without being asked for it is to speak. To make things worse, courts a true indication of a democratic and have been barred from intervening. transparent society. It marks a paradigm Thankfully, the courts have struck shift from the culture of secrecy to one down such a clause as invalid with re- of transparency. This proactive role of spect to other Acts and would be most the State is of special significance to a likely to do in this case also. But then society like ours, where due to social and why have such a clause at all, except educational reasons, many people are A government to dissuade ordinary people from tak- not able to exercise a right provided to sharing information ing judicial recourse when aggrieved by them, which leads to the right existing proactively without the working of the Act. on paper alone. being asked for it is a Like Rajasthan and Karnataka, we con- true indication of a But there are two improvements that tend that the central legislation should democratic and would make the Central Act better. The have had an internal first appeal and an transparent society. It Central Act is silent on the manner of external second appeal. For more inde- marks a paradigm publication of the information. Unless pendence, we suggest that the second shift from the culture the publication is understandable and appeal should have been made to the of secrecy to one of communicable, the entire purpose is Lokpal to be constituted under the pro- transparency lost. The Madhya Pradesh Right to In- posed Lokpal Bill. A look at some in- formation Bill, passed by the Assem- ternational precedents would be rel- bly, but not assented to by the Presi- evant in this regard. dent, provided for suo moto publica- The Australian Freedom of Information tion of information by ‘electronic or Act, 1982 provides for one internal ap- printed media or by beat of drum or peal and a second appeal to the admin- any other suitable method’ (s. 3(2)). istrative tribunal. An option to this Again as the Supreme Court said in mechanism under the Australian Act is another context, one of the languages an appeal to the Ombudsman (Lokepal of publication must be the regional lan- in the Indian context). The Canadian guage of the State (State of Orissa v. Act provides for the Information Com- Sridhar Kumar Malik, AIR 1985 SC missioner, who is independent of the 1411). Secondly, the Central Act should government, for receiving complaints, have provided a more extensive illus- conducting investigations, and issuing trative, not exhaustive, list of items recommendations. expected to be published suo moto. Also,

Granting the Entitlement 61 as far as the life or liberty of a person and not a favour. The set of non- are concerned, the Act should have in- negotiables that emerges for a strong corporated the Supreme Court guide- central law is as follows: lines given in D.K. Basu v. State of l There should be minimal exemptions. West Bengal, AIR 1997 SC 608. The restrictions should not be beyond In addition, the time frame for provid- those contained in Article 19(2) of ing any information required by the FOI the Constitution. Act, 2002 is 30 days and gets unduly de- l The law should apply to the Private layed in case of information related to a and Voluntary Sectors too. third party. The third party delay could have been avoided. And with respect to l There should be penalties for non- life and liberty of a citizen, the time limit compliance. for providing information should have l The appeal mechanism should be in- been 24 hours and not 48 hours, in con- dependent of the government set up. sonance with the spirit of Article 22 of The nomenclature of the Constitution and various judgements l The State should suo moto share infor- the Act should also of the Supreme Court. mation vital to public interest. be changed from the l Information relating to the life and Freedom of What Should a Strong Law liberty of a person should be made Information Act to the Have? available within 24 hours. Right to Information Based on widespread consultations, a Act because it would study of the various State laws, the Then there are certain procedural details mean recognising Press Council-NIRD draft Bill and les- that need attention for the central law that information is an sons from the ground, such as from the to be more effective and helpful for the entitlement and not a MKSS experience, one can make cer- ordinary citizens: favour tain suggestions for revising and im- l Apart from information stored on proving the Freedom of Information paper and electronically, the defini- Act, 2002 and making it a strong central law. This includes a set of tion of ‘record’ must include, as in non-negotiables and incorporation of the Rajasthan Act, materials and sam- certain procedural provisions. ples (for example, of food grains), even though this can be taken care First of all, the preamble should clearly of in the rules even now by a crea- enunciate that the Act seeks to opera- tive interpretation of the definition tionalise the constitutional Right to of information provided in the cen- Information implicit in the Fundamen- tral Act which “means any material tal Right to Freedom of Speech and in any form relating to the adminis- Expression. Correspondingly, the no- tration, operations or decisions of a menclature of the Act should also be public authority. changed from the Freedom of Infor- mation Act to the Right to Information l A set format for applying for infor- Act because it would mean recognis- mation must be provided. All possi- ing that information is an entitlement ble assistance must be provided to

62 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN the people to apply for specific in- must be allowed, even if the request formation. is not explicitly rejected. l All applications should be recorded l The senior officer of the department in a specified register. from which the information is de- l An acknowledgement of the receipt manded must also be made vicari- of application/request for informa- ously liable for not providing the re- tion should be made mandatory. quested information. l Fees for providing information must l No information that is available to the not exceed the cost of reproducing/ Members of Parliament or State legis- supplying the record. latures should be denied to any citizen. l If information is not provided within Many of these can be taken care of the specified time frame, it must be while framing the rules of the present deemed to be a refusal and appeal Central Act.

Granting the Entitlement 63 CHAPTER VI

Conclusion

A Need to Open Up The surreal context of hunger amidst plenty - a stock of 50 million tonnes of On April 5 and 6 2001, the NCPRI ob- grain in government godowns and star- served the fifth anniversary of the vation deaths in many parts of the coun- Beawar agitation for the RTI launched try - lent to the Beawar Resolution a tone by the MKSS on the same day in 1996. of urgency. As the Resolution observes, A convention was held to mark this it is through an insistent inquiry into the occasion. It reviewed the entire move- details of policy and implementation ment and the government response so which create this irony, that the people far. The deliberations of the convention can ensure that the State does not abdi- In the challenge to finally concluded with a Beawar decla- cate its responsibility towards ensuring expand the available ration that calls for the exercise of RTI people their basic Right to life which in- democratic spaces in by the people not only to access rural cludes their right to food. The Resolu- every field, the Beawar development entitlements but to access tion recognised that the Right to life Resolution recognises their entitlements in various other key demands the democratisation of health the significance of the areas like health, food security, human and medical services and the need to rid Right to Information rights, gender, education, environment them of their elitist and gender bias. This as an important and pollution, employment, national weapon also requires persistent inquiry by the security etc. people to breach the veil of secrecy sur- The moot question the Beawar Resolu- rounding the health and medical poli- tion addresses is this: How do the peo- cies and processes, often controlled by ple exercise their sovereignty over the pharmaceutical cartels. State and other Institutions on a con- A similar insistent inquiry is also needed tinuous basis, and not just periodically into the politics of displacement - into when they vote? The resolution ob- the logic of the mega projects that oust serves with dismay the veil of secrecy people from their homes, livelihoods that the vested interests weave to sur- and cultural habitats, into an explana- round the Institutions, which a sover- tion of the ‘national interest’ that is sup- eign people created to serve as instru- posed to take precedence over the peo- ments for their own betterment. In the ple who constitute the nation and into challenge to expand the available demo- the mundane details of land acquisition cratic spaces in every field, the Beawar and rehabilitation that actualise the rob- Resolution recognises the significance bery. Along with these, the Beawar reso- of the Right to Information as an im- lution sought to take the battle for trans- portant weapon. parency to the realms of educational

64 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN rights, custodial and law enforcement realising other entitlements - not only institutions of the State like the police civil and political rights, but the whole and the jails and the way they affect the range of human rights, including socio, civil liberties of the people, the electoral cultural and economic rights. It is yet to system (for instance transparency in be seen how far into action does the electoral expenditure, assets and income NCPRI takes the process. of the candidates and their criminal Looking Ahead records, if any), judicial appointments and functioning, the media (including Drawing from the MKSS experience in the linkages media groups and individu- Rajasthan, the Beawar Resolution made als have with politics and business) and an attempt to look ahead and into addi- also voluntary agencies and citizens’ as- tional vistas. These additional vistas sociations who claim to serve the peo- have become possible because of the ple selflessly. collateral linkages of the Right to In- formation with other entitlements of the Interests and processes controlling the The Defence and people that the MKSS experience firmly lives of the people are becoming more Nuclear and more remote from those in decision established with reference to rural de- Establishments are making seats - be they international re- velopment and Panchayati Raj. Any at- most resistant to the gimes or transnational businesses and tempt to look ahead requires summing idea of transparency the political interests that shape them. up of the quintessential MKSS experi- and democratic Recognising this, the Beawar Resolution ence and the way it has established the accountability. The sought to take the battle for transpar- significance of the Right to Information Beawar Resolution ency into all aspects of globalisation and for realising the whole range of human recognised that economic liberalisation and the interna- rights – economic, social, political, and subjecting these tional regimes they have engendered. cultural. This paper has tried to show establishments to a that Jan Sunwais related to rural de- close public scrutiny As in other countries, the Defence and velopment expenditure form the core is even more Nuclear Establishments are most re- of the MKSS experience. Let us try to necessary sistant to the idea of transparency and look at the meaning of this core. democratic accountability. They feed and grow on disinformation and chau- Tool to Identify and Fight vinism. The Beawar Resolution rec- Corruption ognised that subjecting these estab- What began as a search for fora for lis- lishments to a close public scrutiny is tening to people’s voices, as a MKSS even more necessary. For the people note said during the first phase of the must ensure that their lives and real Jan Sunwais, turned out to be a collec- security are not hijacked in the name tive exercise of the people’s Right to of security. Information. Exercised collectively, this As far as a declaration can go, the exercise became a sharp tool to identify Beawar resolution makes significant in detail the kind of corruption that linkages between the Right to Informa- pervade rural development work and tion and its collateral applications, i.e., also help fight it. The corruption in ru- its application as an enabling right in ral development work that the Jan Conclusion 65 Sunwais have identified can be catego- the poorest of the poor, especially the rised into: women and the dalits, who exist on the brink of survival, of the community l Purchase Overbilling: For instance, pay and individual entitlements that would for (and use) 50 bags of cement, but increase their life chances – their em- get a bill for 100 bags and claim it. ployment, wages, housing, water, l Sale Overbilling: Suppliers give over- schools and health centres. The Jan priced material or sell inferior or adul- Sunwais have thus established them- terated material at full price. Though selves as a fight against corruption and Panchayat Accounts might appear al- simultaneously a fight for increasing right in this case, the public is never- the life chances of the poor – thereby theless robbed. linking the Right to Information, the fight against corruption, the right to life The Jan Sunwais have l Fake Muster Rolls: Appropriate wages and livelihood and the whole range of thus established of fictitious workers through ghost socio-economic rights that go into the themselves as a fight entries in the muster rolls. making of the right to life. As a forum against corruption and l Under Payment of Wages: Get the work- of expression and communication, a simultaneously a fight ers to sign for an amount and pay them Jan Sunwai also gets linked to a cul- for increasing the life less than that. tural right. chances of the poor – thereby linking the l Tinkering with Labour-Material Ratio: The Jan Sunwais, most dramatically Right to Information, Often, fake wage payments are en- the Bori one, also demonstrated how the fight against tered in the Accounts to pay for extra misappropriation through corruption corruption, the right to material for which there is no bill. This in rural development works feeds on, life and livelihood and is meant to get around the official and into, the structural feudal inequi- ties of our society, and how by breach- the whole range of 60:40 ratio between expenditure on ing feudal fear and loosening the feu- socio-economic rights wages and material respectively. dal stranglehold the power relation- that go into the making Though this ‘adjustment’, as it is ships in a village are changed. Thus, of the right to life called, may not involve any direct the Jan Sunwais and the Right to In- misappropriation of public funds, it formation Acts show promise towards is serious to the extent that it deprives realisation of socio-cultural rights in labourers of employment and wages. an innovative way. l Ghost Works: This is the climactic Implications for Governance, Devel- fraud involving wholesale fabrica- opment and Democracy tion of records for non-existent works. In Janawad, the number of Operating in the context of rural de- ghost works was 49 out of 141 – velopment work executed by the more than one third. Panchayati Raj bodies, an institution of democratic local self-governance, and Linkage with Other Rights raising questions of transparency and The Jan Sunwais also established that accountability in that context, the each of such acts of corruption robs MKSS Jan Sunwais have important

66 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN implications for the three above men- for collective exercise of the individu- tioned things. By trying to stop pilfer- al’s rights, that disadvantaged indi- age of public funds and pressing for the viduals learn to democratically rene- accountability of administrative ma- gotiate, from positions of relative chinery through transparency, the Jan strength, their status within the scheme Sunwais have demonstrated the useful- of things. The right to vote, for in- ness of the Right to Information for stance is an individual’s right, recog- good governance. But they underline nising the free choice of the individual even more fundamental implications in the matter. Exercised in a purpose- for development and democracy by ful way, it acquires meaning and does aiming to: wonders. Collectively exercised through Jan Sunwais by the poor of l Reclaim Development: Through the Rajasthan, the individual’s Right to Jan Sunwais, the people assert their Information acquired hitherto unhigh- right to the proper use of develop- lighted meanings and ramifications as ment funds, thereby reclaiming mentioned above. Apart from these, it By recognising the the development they have been also became a means of people directly rights of the robbed of. setting the agenda of political dis- individual, modern l Build Democracy: By trying to ensure course to be picked up later by the po- democracy, its that the accountability of the govern- litical parties and the administration. institutions and the ment machinery flows downwards to constitutions giving it Lessons for Democratic Governance the people, the Jan Sunwais or the col- form ensure the free lective exercise of the Right to Infor- Herein, the MKSS experience of Jan existence of the mation becomes a means for the peo- Sunwais in Rajasthan has obvious les- individual against ple to exercise their sovereignty on a sons for good, democratic and constitu- manipulation by continuous basis and not periodically tional governance of this country. The forces beyond her at the time of elections. A Jan Sunwai constitutional establishment has fol- control thus becomes an exercise in “govern- lowed up on one set of lessons by en- ment for the people, by the people, acting RTI legislations, however prob- without the intermediation of politi- lematic from the citizens’ point of view, cal parties,” as Jean Dreze says in an and granting a transparency and RTI article. In short, in the words of Aruna component in various other entitle- Roy, “it is a short step towards the ments of the people and spheres of gov- transition from representative democ- ernance, for instance Panchayati Raj Act racy to participatory democracy”. in Kerala and various other government departments in Madhya Pradesh. By recognising the rights of the indi- vidual, modern democracy, its institu- Some other State governments, like tions and the constitutions giving it Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have form ensure the free existence of the followed up on a second set of lessons individual against manipulation by by institutionalising Social Audit forces beyond her control. But it is by through Ward Sabhas or Gram Sabhas. finding ways and founding institutions Even the rural development ministry of

Conclusion 67 the central government has made this a In the corruption cases established by precondition for assistance to the State the first Jan Sunwai at Kot Kirana in governments for its schemes. But it is Dec.1994, the police dropped prosecu- one thing to institutionalise merely for- tion against the Junior Engineer named mally and another to institutionalise and brought charges in the court substantially. As exemplified by the against the Gram Sewak concerned. As MKSS follow-up through Social Audit per rules, with a criminal case against Ward Sabhas in May 2000 on Bhim Jan him, his pension was stopped after re- Sunwai, the details of procedure, which tirement, but curiously begun again would give substance to Social Audit after some time. The case against him through Ward Sabhas, still need to be is still pending in the court six years worked into the system. As the MKSS later. The case against the non-exist- Jan Sunwais have shown, it is attention ent company Bhairunath and Sons to details that traps misappropriation, thrown up by the 2nd Jan Sunwai at pilferage and corruption. Bhim in Dec.1994, and registered by the anti-corruption bureau of the State Overlooking working out the details and Transparency has a government, has been closed after procedural follow up in Social Audit by twin in accountability, levying and receiving minor taxes. The Ward/Gram Sabhas, is in consonance and even while trying owner of that company is now the with the loopholes of RTI laws in a few to accommodate the Panchayat Samiti Pradhan with no states that it exists in and the recently former in whatever case against her. Another case of that enacted central legislation after so many limited and halting Jan Sunwai which related to Kaladeh sessions of Parliament since it was in- manner, the system Panchayat did not make any headway troduced. It is reflective of the en- has much neglect to with the police because the anti-cor- trenched resistance in the system to account for so far as ruption bureau took away the original sharing information with the people, the latter is concerned papers related to the case. which would mean sharing power with the people and a democratic control The 3rd Jan Sunwai at Vijaypura had ensuring the straight and narrow of brought to light irregularities in prime public service. land leased out by the Panchayat. The subsequent departmental inquiry invali- Faltering on Accountability dated valid leases to poor eligible Transparency has a twin in accountabil- allottees and validated irregular allot- ity, and even while trying to accommo- ments to rich people. The case relating date the former in whatever limited and to Anganwadis too was covered up. In halting manner, the system has much the 4th Jan Sunwai at Jawaja, the Gram neglect to account for so far as the lat- Sewak had returned the bribes he had ter is concerned. This is again a fact best taken from beneficiaries of Indira Awas borne out by the MKSS experience if scheme. But in the case of false entries we look at the present status of the in muster rolls in Asan and Baghmal corruption cases that sprang up in the (the same workers had been shown to course of various Jan Sunwais. have worked at two different sites the

68 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN same day in these two different vil- Devi was suspended and then debarred lages), the police closed the case on the from fighting elections by the Panchayati basis of an affidavit by the accused and Raj department for her misdemeanour. not by the people supposed to have With regard to the Bori Jan Sunwai in worked the two far removed sites. The Dec.1999, the MKSS effected a deal for accused said in their affidavit that the recovery of embezzled funds from workers had worked the two sites in Thakur Nain Singh and his factotums different day and night shifts the same in return for dropping of charges by the day due to rains. In the 5th Jan Sunwai police against the dismissed Dalit at Thana in April, 1995 it was the Sarpanch Pyarchand, the innocent vic- MKSS which ensured recoveries to the tim of the coterie’s wiles. The corrup- Panchayat fund in a few cases of mis- tion cases exposed in Bhim Jan Sunwai appropriation. The cases never went to in April 2000, were fed into the Social the official machinery. Audit Ward Sabhas the next month. But With respect to the second phase of Jan even the Ward Sabha resolutions failed Sunwais, the record of the official ma- to lead these cases anywhere. This chinery is slightly better at the top level shows a complete failure of the system even though the pains taken by the sys- and its new initiative of Social Audit, tem as a whole to cover up criminal cases the reasons for which have been ex- is as much. After Sarpanch Basanta plained above. Devi of Kukarkheda Panchayat returned The Janawad Jan Sunwai experience has the embezzled Rs.50,000 following the been recounted in great detail. The Jan Sunwai in her Panchayat in Jan.1998, ex-Sarpanch and his two accomplices in the district administration intimidated the official machinery have been the her into taking back the money by threat- only persons till now to have gone to ening her with an inquiry and prosecu- jail because of their misdeeds being ex- tion. After the same Jan Sunwai, the posed in a Jan Sunwai. The anti-corrup- anti-corruption bureau filed a First In- tion bureau has filed 11 First Informa- formation report against the Barar tion Reports against them and various Sarpanch Asha Devi. There has been no other accused covering the spectrum of information regarding any headway for government machinery. A recovery of nearly four years now. In Surajpura Jan Rs. 1.37 lakh has also been ordered from Sunwai in Jan.1998, two Sarpanches had them by the State government. returned Rs.1.47 lakh and Rs.1.18 lakh respectively. The many cases of corrup- This recollection of cases makes it clear tion that came up in this Jan Sunwai are that except in the case of Janawad, it being investigated simultaneously by the was only the people’s mechanism of re- Panchayati Raj department, the police dress, wherever it was strong enough to and the anti-corruption bureau. These be effective, that resulted in recoveries. probes are not complete even nearly four In the case of government machinery, years later. Following this Jan Sunwai, forces working against justice and though, the Lotiyana Sarpanch Kanku redress have generally proved stronger.

Conclusion 69 This brings us to the question of the adverse experiences (with a few work- replicability of the MKSS experience. ers employed in the Mazdoor Kisana Kirana shops run by it in Bhim and The Question of Replicability Jawaja and also with the former Thana There are two aspects to the question Sarpanch) in this regard within its ranks. in this context. One pertains to the peo- The organisation had to indicate firmly ple and the other to the constitutional that such things and persons had no establishment, including the govern- standing at all with it. Apart from this, ments, the legislatures and the courts. hurtling from one long and arduous As we have seen, the people of central mass agitation to another and on to na- Rajasthan have not only replicated the tional level networking efforts for the Jan Sunwai several times, but have also NCPRI in the past decade, especially made it evolve. Is the experience repli- during the past seven years, has left the cable in space also? The area covered MKSS with little time to attend to a by the MKSS operations has expanded grassroots organisational strategy. As it over the years in central Rajasthan, al- is, the organisation consists of only a The demand for Jan beit slowly. The demand for Jan Sunwais handful of people – whole timers and Sunwais from newer from newer and further off Panchayats, part timers – who constitute a central and further off as in the case of Umarwas and Janawad, committee. It has no branches or units Panchayats has come has come from the residents of these in villages, blocks, districts or states. It from the residents of Panchayat themselves – indicating a receives no institutional funding as a these Panchayat slow ripple effect. The slowness of this matter of policy, but only modest indi- themselves – ripple effect can be explained in terms vidual donations. The impact and vis- indicating a slow of the arduous attention to detail and ibility of the MKSS work has been far ripple effect the difficulty in negotiating official hur- more than its size would suggest. dles, as well as those put up by the local For the impact and visibility to trans- vested interests, that a Jan Sunwai en- late into rootedness of the MKSS expe- tails and the lack of MKSS’ matching rience elsewhere in the country, what is organisational numbers to deal with this. needed is an organisation with the sense The relatively slow organisational of purpose and tenacity of the MKSS growth of MKSS in over a decade of to take the exercise forward in a new hectic and intense activity could be due region. Such an organisation should also to its own subjective hesitation in ex- have a local support base and macro pansion because of its avowed commu- level networking like the MKSS to bear nity centredness for credibility, support, any backlash from vested interests, lo- recruitment and resources. This subjec- cal as well as official, that the central tive hesitation could also be because of Rajasthan experience has indicated. the organisation’s sensitivity on the The work ahead for NCPRI seems cut question of transparency and integrity out – identifying and supporting such of its members, primarily involved as it grassroots organisations across the is with these questions in its public country, formulating and articulating work. Already, the MKSS has had some the right to information component in

70 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN various contexts other than rural de- entitlement of the people, and Parlia- velopment works and helping evolve ment has only recently passed a law (in modes of the collective exercise of December 2002). Moreover, as the people’s Right to Information like the Rajasthan experience shows, the estab- Jan Sunwais in these other contexts. A lishment still has to attend to the much challenging task indeed, now that the neglected question of accountability NCPRI has established itself in the that goes hand in hand with transpar- The governments public realm by articulating and widely ency, for any meaningful institutionali- should at least begin disseminating the need for a Right to sation of the MKSS’ Jan Sunwai experi- by fixing, in their Right Information law and helping into be- ment. The governments should at least to Information ing laws in some states by ardent ad- begin by fixing, in their Right to Infor- legislations, vocacy and contributions to the draft- mation legislations, responsibility and responsibility and ing exercise. In short, this is a task of accountability of those entrusted with accountability of those helping translate the Beawar Resolu- giving information to people but stall- entrusted with giving tion into Action. ing it in practice. information to people but stalling it in The second aspect of replicability per- Looking back at the sum total of the practice taining to the constitutional establish- experience with transparency and ac- ment, we have seen, still requires much countability in Rajasthan and this coun- work. Government machinery in an try, we can say there is still a long way overwhelming number of states in the to go. With its pitfalls and roadblocks. country have not had much experi- And with its triumphs and exhilaration, ence with the Right to Information if taken collectively and in right earnest.

Conclusion 71 Bibliography

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73 Right to Information Laws 1. The Freedom Of Information Act, 2002 10. Access to Information Act, Canada 2. The Rajasthan RTI Act, 2000 11. Freedom of Information Act, Australia 3. The Goa RTI Act, 1997 12. Access to Information Act, South Africa 4. The Karnataka RTI Act, 2000 13. Freedom of Information as an Internation- 5. The Tamil Nadu RTI Rules, 1997 ally Protected Human Right, Toby Mendel, 6. Maharashtra RTI Act, 2000 Head of Law Programme, ARTICLE 19 7. Delhi RTI Act, 2001 14. SP Gupta vs. Union of India, 1981 Supp. 8. Constitution of Nepal SCC 87. 9. Constitution of South Africa

74 PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION MOVEMENT: LESSONS FROM RAJASTHAN