Reflections of Rajaram Bojji

Amazing we, the people of India! Perhaps we are special. We elect our legislators in open elections conducted fairly, and hand over all the assets of the nation and our lives to them to manage in our interest. Then we also bestow the boon that they can write whatever they like in secrecy to manage our assets, and need to only reveal final decision-not how or why they arrived at the decision. Full freedom we grant to act arbitrarily in secrecy. After years, when we get a doubt we meekly, apply for information on files dealing with our assets, as to how and why they did some thing years ago. We accept to pay for that service too. We also watch colleagues beaten up or even killed in some accident like event, when sensitive information is sought for. Still we feel proud we got the RTI ! The government uses it as their Right To Insult us. It is ok with us. Then we have iconic great leaders who wage war against corruption. They tell us we should have more powerful autonomous investigating a...

Engr. B. Rajaram ;Inventor ACD/SkybusJan 12, 2012 06:23 PM This is truly impressive. Even minutes of the meeting available. The technology has made this possible.Why Governance cannot be done using the technology tools- economically and decision along with work flow is made visible to every citizen? As MD of KR, I did implement open visibility for workflow and file notings, even for audit to watch in real time.You will be surprised how a Minister stared at me, when I told him that when he wants to give any order that would straight away appear in my work flow scheme for all to see. Then he backed off! Actually it is the bureaucrat who has the power of declaring a file secret or open. Even what Railway Board's communication marked confidential, I used to declare as open, by posting reply on the servers, if it is not involving any individual's private concerns , and public are the stake holders. There is no constitutional provision to hide the workflow of governance. The secrecy ...

Why a citizen should risk his life to do public service? To merely collect information, if one seeks to use the RTI, so long as it is well sanitised, the government releases the same. You do not know what you did not get.Really sensitive information will be hidden. If too much pressure arises, then life itself is taken. There are cases when really damaging information comes out under two sets of circumstances: 1. When a group of persons or an organisation operates through some court process and some one in the government is willing to cooperate 2. When the government itself in a planned pre-meditated manner, create such document duly marked secret, but release at the right time under RTI to achieve own internal agenda of setting right a rogue political colleague, whom they are otherwise unable to handle. So RTI is either misused or abused. The basic lacuna in the ACT is you do not what to ask for , and do not know how much more the government is hiding while giving some information. It...

This song and drama show that the Government has imposed on us under the benevolence of granting RTI Act is a sham. Public has fundamental right to know the process of governance. How it became a secret, unless appealed and applied under some ACT, rationed information will be given out? How our innocent citizens are made to believe that they got some wonderful Act! I strongly hold to my position that the file noting and proceedings should be equally public as the order that got generated so long as it is public domain order. Any order which is issued in public domain shall necessarily be accompanied by the background file image on a secure web. There shall not be secrecy. Any secret activity can have secret orders and secret files. Just like Judiciary or the Parliament cannot act in secrecy. a bureaucrat also should not act in secrecy. During the process of the file, till issue of the order, things can be kept secret. But not after issue of the final order. This one single...

We bureaucrats for some reason are still unable to get out of our well conditioned mind set to keep the right of the government intact to hide files from public. While the process preceding the final government orders should be secret till the issue of orders, once the order is public, automatically the entire file noting and the documents which led to the competent authority to issue the order, should also lose the protection of secrecy. Every single government order issued to affect public interest, and is published , should have the supporting documents and noting of bureaucracy and the competent authority, made equally public as the order itself. Why a citizen should "appeal" to the "master" in the public servant, to get information under the RTI Act? Please think over. It is a matter of just an executive order which can be issued now, today. Present technology allows images of the 20 odd critical pages and the noting of the three levels of bureaucrats below t...