Right to Information Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Right to Information Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Right to Information Act 2005 (Act No. 22/2005) is an act enacted by the Parliament of India, and the Act came into force on 15th June 2005. The Act was enacted with a view to enable the citizens of India to have access to the information under the control of authorities defined to be public authorities under the Act. The Act mandates that from 12th October 2005, the general public (of India) may approach the public authorities including the departments of the federal government, state governments, government bodies, public sector companies and public sector banks to make available the information as requested.

It is accepted by the Supreme Court of India as a part of right to speech and expression guaranteed to citizens in the Constitution. It tries to promote openness, transparency and accountability in administration and ensures effective participation of people in the administration and thus implement a more meaningful form of democracy.

Example of culture change due to IT - using IT to computerise records and make 'em easily accessible and scrutinizable. Openness, transparency are "values" held by the IT profession. War against corruption can really succeed in the IT generation.
Exposes using RTI -