Challenges of Accountability

All the three branches of government: legislature, executive and judiciary are separated with special beneficiary exemptions to their accountability in terms of "Privileges of the House", "the Official Secrecy Act" and "Contempt of Court" respectively. The RTI Act is serving as a powerful tool to create changes in official functioning, from disdain to respect, from complete authority to greater accountability, because it seeks to make the individual s in the office accountable personally if information is not provided in time. Henceforth, there is a constant and continuous struggle prevailing between citizens right to know and access to information and the public authority s tendency to withhold information under various pretexts finally decisively ended in favor of the individual citizen. The study explores how the RTI has led to greater transparency which can be maintained and further developed by the joint actions of civil society organizations and individual citizen to hold government s accountable for each acts of omission and commission as a matter of right.

Autorentext

Manorama Dei, MA, Governance and Democracy, Institute of Social Studies, The Netherlands. Program Director, God Action, New Delhi, India