C-da,
You raise a very important point about Right to Information Law. I do not think India has any such law although people have been demanding it and govt saying it is NOT feasible. However, Colombia in South America seems to be having such a law and a young man from their President's group Imet the other day , who was training youth to fight corruption said that they are able to use this law to dig up transactions in the govt. And get theguilty punished. It seems there the govt officials have to make info available within 15 days or face legal prosecution.
And they have been sucessful in lowering there corruption level from 72 to 63 score (Transparency International corruption rating , 2004) whereas India is still at a high of 90 score.
Colombia is the drug haven and still has managed this and got people convicted - as the man was saying.
So Right to Info. can work in removing corruption - the details are very important about how it will work - how public servants can find time to do their regular work and provide info to public as well. And how to make them accountable to provide info - and how fast the legal systme shopuld work to punish the guilty.
I think even if the legal system remains the snail it is - once the culpritshave been identified - the media and civil society and the general public will mete out its own kind of justice.
Umesh
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I am amazed by all the fine ideas being generated by our friends to
make desi-demokrasy accountable and transparent.
Allow me to enumerate them for posterity:
** People need to become more moral.
** People need to elect the good people. ( Obviously desis
have a problem in figuring out who is good and who is bad, unlike
all these fine wise folks of Assam Net)
**Assam better produce some good leaders, or else ( the inference
here would be that those other states in India must have good
leaders, how else are they doing so much better than Assam?)
** NGOs are the salvation. Assam needs more good NGO's. (With
enough of them, the dysfunctional GOs could be dumped and
we will see Assam prospering and living happily ever after)
** And now we have yet another great idea: Investigative
journalism to the rescue.
I am quite su! re DNB will be tickled to death to read about these fine
interpretations of his litany of kharkhowa woes by some of Assam's
best.
I am quite sure Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka would be too. Maybe it would
not be that good an idea to show it to him, without checking if he
has a heart condition. It might kill him from laughter. DNB himself
could be driven to write a testy article on kharkhowa reading
comprehension, considering how the Sentinel's efforts on educating
the clueless on the state of Indian govt's. transparency as
demonstrated by the pathetic toothlessness of the "Right to
Information" laws; laws that are routinely enacted, ritualistically,
only to be discarded and even perverted once the rites are over; did
not register on this august body of fine
Netters.
Yours Sarcastically.
cm
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