PREPARING FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Raising Public Awareness Of The Law

If right to information laws are to meet their objectives of encouraging more public participation and oversight of government, then citizens need to be completely aware of their rights and how to enforce them. Right to information laws are special because they rely on public participation - if the public don't make applications then the law will just gather dust.

Experience in India and abroad has shown that, in the early stages of implementation, it is important for the Government to take a proactive role in promoting the Act and making the public aware of the law and how they can use it. Section 26(1) of the Central Act requires that the Central and State Governments develop and organise public education programmes (subject to financial resources). The Central Act even specifies that such programmes should be particularly targeted towards disadvantaged groups.

Section 26(2) of the Central Act also requires that the Central and State Governments produce a Users Guide in official languages. It should be a clear and simple guide containing practical information to facilitate the effective exercise of rights under the law, and it should be disseminated widely in accessible formats. The Guide should be updated on a regular basis, as necessary.

At the State level, some public education work has already been undertaken, although much more remains to be done. For example, under the now-repealed Maharashtra and Karnataka RTI laws, the State Governments made efforts to produce brochures for the public explaining their respective State Acts. These publications were produced in local languages to ensure maximum accessibility. Notably though, considering the low levels of literacy in some states, the broadcast media should also be considered as a particularly important vehicle for public education on freedom of information. Posters, leaflets and public seminars are also an efficient and cost-effective way of making the public aware of what information is available and how to obtain it.

Many NGOs have also been active in assisting the Government to spread the message about RTI, for example, by producing user's guides and posters. Governments could consider partnering with NGOs to do this awareness raising work, for example, by providing NGOs with funds to hold workshops or by agreeing to distribute their brochures. CHRI has also produced a Concept Note on Public Education Activities for Governments.

Internationally, some governments have tackled this issue by actually setting up dedicated Access to Information Units within Government who are responsible for raising awareness both within the bureaucracy and among the public. For example, the Trinidad and Tobago Freedom of Information Unit has facilitated the implementation process in that country by educating members of the public about their rights (and training public authorities about their responsibilities under their Freedom of Information Act). Among other things, the Unit has: established a freedom of information website; distributed over 200,000 brochures explaining the law to national households by post; produced radio and television features, newspaper advertisements and posters on the law; and undertaken Community Outreach through a roaming "FOI Caravan".

Please click on the link to the Central RTI Act to read the detailed provisions contained in the law. Please click on the link to CHRI's State RTI pages to find out more about relevant rules and implementation in your specific State.