what is need for Right to Information to fight corruption
Answers
RTI Act recognizes that information held in any form should be made available to citizens. In fact, samples of materials used also come under the definition of information. Overriding all other facts, the RTI Act allows information pertaining to third parties to be given to the citizen even if prohibited by the earlier Acts. The only requirement is that the information sought should be in public interest. As far as information held by the Government including personal information, the Act allows one to get such information without even giving any reason as to why you need that information. The RTI Act not only helps the citizens but also the whistle-blower and to recognize whether a particular person is a genuine whistle-blower or not, all one has to do is see files handled by him earlier. In this way supporting a whistle-blower is a much easier task today. But as whistle-blowers do not announce about their own activities, opinion of individuals should be collected and likely whistle-blower's list should be prepared. The very fact of preparation of a whistle-blower's list itself allows more information to come regarding whistle-blowers.
For many who indulge in corruption, giving up corrupt practices may be as difficult asgiving up smoking for some. While a chronic smoker rejects counseling to give up smoking, a very corrupt person does not make efforts to give up his corrupt practices. Luckily, RTI is a tool which can expose and embarrass a corrupt person. The embarrassment should be so acute that he should feel shy to be seen in public. Unfortunately, today it is not happening. To start with we should recognize the honest and embarrass the corrupt. It is in this way that RTI has become a stick to beat the corrupt with.
You will be surprised to know that any one who can write can fight corruption. All you will be spending is Rs 10. What is that you can do? You can apply the rule of three to take up an issue. Ask yourself what irritated you which happened more than two times and whether you felt anyone could have prevented it from happening again and again. The RTI makes you realize that you could be that man who could make the difference..
All right, now you know what should be prevented from happening again and again. You have to seek necessary information to know what is causing that bad thing to happen repeatedly. If it is corruption and it is rampant then you know that the source of corruption is at the highest level. On the other hand, if it is a stray incident involving a few people only, then somebody in the hierarchy would have acted on a complaint given by some person. But since the fact that it is rampant implies either all the persons to whom complaints were made were themselves corrupt or it is being perpetuated at the behest of the top..