TRS govt undermining spirit of democracy

The Government of Telangana has blocked public access to the website (http://goir.telangana. gov.in) that contains government orders (GOs) issued on a day-to-day basis. This is a clear violation of the Right to Information Act 2005.

The RTI Act amply clarifies that it is mandatory on the part of the State or the Central governments to publish all the GOs and policies in public domain including presenting them through internet so that even a common man can access the information without any difficulty and cost. The government might be aware that the RTI is implicitly guaranteed by the Constitution.

However, with a view to setting out a practical mechanism to effectively implement the RTI, the UPA government, led by the Congress party, brought in a major administrative reform and enacted the RTI Act, 2005, and then onwards the RTI became a powerful tool in the hands of citizens of India to get information from the government as a matter of right.

The primary objective of the RTI Act is to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the government, restrict corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense. The basic tenets of a healthy democracy are open dialogue, transparency and accountability. It is very unfortunate that the present Government of Telangana is destroying all these foundations of democracy.

It can’t go scot-free of such a violation of the Constitution. One may wonder under which law the Government of Telangana has taken such an unconstitutional and dreadful decision to block the GOs website and hide the information from the people? What rationality does the government have to take such a unilateral decision? What are the criteria for classifying or categorising GOs as confidential and vice versa?

The Telangana government is not dealing with any matters related to national security or national sovereignty and such matters may be kept secret and confidential. But the GOs issued are mere general administrative orders for effective execution of their decisions. Of course, the GOs should stand the test of Constitution and legally be valid, and, to that extent, transparency is a basic prerequisite.

However, the government to hide information endorses the arguments of the opposition that the Telangana government, in the last 18 months, has violated many processes, procedures and constitutional norms in formulating public policies and issuance of government orders to take undue advantage.

On the one hand, the Telangana of government is making tall claims that they would encourage people’s participation in development and good governance. And on the other hand, they are blocking accessibility to fundamental information. Unless the information is shared with people openly, one can’t claim that it is a transparent government promoting participative governance, rather it is a complete contradiction of their real practice.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in his address on the eve of first national convention organised by the Central Information Commission in 2006 that, “We as elected leaders have limited role in governance. Our major role is in policy making and we have limited role in implementation of policies.

It is the role of the real beneficiary that is the common man who has got real role to play in availing the benefits of our policy making. It is possible only when they are well informed. We are introducing the RTI Act 2005 to this nation so as to make the citizen of this nation to be part of the governance".

However, ironically, the spirit of RTI Act is being scuttled in Telangana. The Chief Minister of Telangana might want to recognise that some of the nations such as Singapore, America that he cites as role model nations are popular, not just because they have good infrastructure, flyovers and skyscrapers, but it is because of their peoples’ participation in governance, transparency and accountability.

There are several incidents wherein many RTI activists are being attacked or threatened, in particular by the sand mafia for questioning them about their illegal sand transport. One Kantipudi Sathyanarayana, an eminent RTI activist and awardee by the District Warangal for RTI activities, was even killed by the sand mafia.

And this meaningless act of government to block websites will be an impetus for the contractors and corrupt officials as if the government has given them an indirect licence to act against the democratic rights of the people. It looks like the Telangana government has decided to keep every official document as confidential and maintain secrecy so as to avoid further embarrassment from opposition parties as also from the courts of justice, and, in particular, wants that people cannot question them.

The political bosses, in order to gain political advantage, may adopt undemocratic path, but the civil servants or the government executives, the second pillar of democracy, who are supposed to be the servants of Indian Constitution, should not forget their fundamental duty of protecting the Constitution, the rule of law and providing good governance.

With regard to violating the RTI Act, the bureaucrats are silent, and even the Governor of Telangana, the first citizen of the state, is also maintaining a questionable silence, after all, when the fellow citizens’ rights are being scuttled. The so-called custodians of the Constitution shall not become conspirators, which is very dangerous to the very existence of democracy.

If that is so, the people would lose faith in democracy, which might lead to unwanted socio-political revolutions. As mentioned by Abraham Lincoln, the “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people,” and we wonder why the State should keep the GOs confidential and hide them from people, unless it has manipulated the decisions and is guilty of the same.

K Taraka Rama Rao proclaimed that their government promotes people’s participation in government, but the reality is totally different. Both the Chief Minister KCR and KTR should recognise the fact that democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment.

When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation. Hence, it is time the Telangana government attempted to “Walk the Talk instead of a mere Talk the Walk.” The Chief Minister of Telangana should not forget the people participated in Telangana movement and even sacrificed their lives with a belief to gain absolute democracy.

It is our collective responsibility to strengthen the democracy, provide transparent and good governance, and emerge as a role model state in terms of holistic growth. And if not, there is no meaning of acquiring statehood for Telangana. With the current form of governance, it appears that the people of Telangana have slipped from the frying pan and landed into the fire.

Any ruler in this country should not forget that in a true democracy, government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not President, Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, Council of Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs or elected representatives, and government officials, but the VOTERS of this country.

The only way to regard our voter and build his confidence towards the democracy is by providing transparent governance while adhering to the constitutional provisions or else largest democracy would become a biggest mockery or hypocrisy.

Therefore, without making any further rigmarole on this issue, the Government of Telangana should be wise enough to unblock the government website http://goir.telangana.gov.in and provide good governance with total transparency and accountability and safeguard the spirit of Indian democracy. (The writer is Chief Official Spokesperson, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee)