Government is firm in excluding four areas; defence, personnel, security and
intelligence, as regards file noting while amending the Right to Information
Act, 2005.
There has been considerable coverage from the press in India, namely the ToI. Their articles are linked here, here and here.
Atleast one of these four areas of the GoI has been embroiled in one scandal or another in the recent years (Kargil Coffin Scam/Tehelka comes to mind). Therefore, is it right to exempt these firstly from the RTI and secondly from the "file notifications"?? I think not. More details of the file noting is given here
Contrary to popular perception, file notings are not mere scribbles by officers
on the margins of any document. They are written on a separate green sheet on
the left side of files, giving an officer's considered comments on the issue.
While the right side of a file contains the proposal, the left side has an
officer's views on it. After putting his views, the officer passes the file to
his superior who, in turn, puts his views expressing approval or disapproval on
this page.
Furthermore, the link also gives an example of the RTI "file notings" being used
When 150 jhuggis were demolished in Mayur Vihar in September 2005, DDA said no
land was available to resettle them. However, file notings revealed that 700
plots of land had actually been developed by DDA in Kondli for resettling them.
It's just that some officer, or set of officers, was holding back these plots,
perhaps for more lucrative purposes
While it may be understandable, albeit dissappointing, that defense agencies would be outside the purview of the file notification, one wonders why the ministry of personnel, should be exempt. There may be a sinister reason in this, if this link is to be believed.
The editorial article here carries one reason why people should be worried on this change.
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