Editorial 2: RTI is Dead, Long Live RTI
Context:
Enacted after years of grassroots struggle led by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) in places like Beawar, Rajasthan, the RTI Act empowered citizens to demand accountability and transparency from public authorities. As the Act completes two decades, India finds itself at a critical juncture where the very essence of this hard-won right is being undermined by recent legislative changes, notably through the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), 2023.
Background:
- Beawar, often called the “RTI City,” has played a defining role in India’s transparency movement.
- The seeds of the RTI struggle were sown here in the 1990s, when ordinary citizens demanded access to government records to expose corruption and ensure fair wages under public works programmes.
- On October 12, 2025, Beawar not only celebrated 30 years of its struggle but also 20 years of the RTI Act as a moment of pride for people who could truly say they had “created history.”
- The local municipality, recognising this legacy, passed a resolution to construct an RTI Memorial and Museum at Chang Gate, where the first protest demanding transparency was held in 1996.
- This initiative, led by the MKSS and the School for Democracy, seeks to preserve the movement’s history and serve as a living space to promote constitutional values and people’s participation in governance.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA):
- Ironically, as India commemorates the RTI’s success, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) poses an unprecedented threat to it.
- While ostensibly designed to protect citizens’ privacy in the digital age, Section 44(3) of the DPDPA amends the RTI Act in ways that could render it ineffective.
- The amendment bars the disclosure of “personal information” under the pretext of privacy, without distinguishing between personal data and information related to public duties or public interest.
- Earlier, Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act struck a delicate balance between the right to privacy and the right to information.
- It exempted personal information from disclosure only if it had no relation to public activity or interest.
- Furthermore, it empowered authorities to disclose such information if a larger public interest warranted it.
- The DPDPA, however, removes this crucial public-interest override, replacing it with a blanket exemption on personal information.
- This change effectively shields public officials and entities from scrutiny.
- Without access to names, designations, or roles of those responsible for administrative decisions, citizens will be unable to expose corruption, misuse of funds, or abuse of power.
Curtailing the Citizen’s Right to Know:
- One of the most democratic features of the RTI Act was its equality clause, which stated that “information that cannot be denied to Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any citizen.”
- This clause placed the ordinary citizen on equal footing with elected representatives in accessing information.
- The DPDPA amendment has deleted this provision, eroding a principle that symbolized participatory democracy.
- Further, the DPDPA introduces punitive measures fines up to ₹250 crore for unauthorized disclosure of personal data.
- Such provisions can have a chilling effect on journalists, researchers, and activists, discouraging legitimate investigation into public affairs.
- The law, originally intended for large data-handling corporations, has been extended indiscriminately to all citizens, thereby curbing freedom of expression and investigative work.
- The backlash against these amendments has been widespread. Over 150 Members of Parliament, 2,500 journalists, and numerous civil society organizations have raised objections and submitted representations to the government.
- Despite this, there has been little effort to engage in meaningful democratic consultation.
- Activists argue that the amendments not only violate the spirit of the RTI but also undermine constitutional values of transparency and accountability.
Way Forward:
The RTI Act has been instrumental in exposing corruption, reforming governance, and empowering citizens. It is through RTI that India’s poor and marginalized have claimed their entitlements, be it ration cards, pensions, or wages. Weakening it under the guise of data protection threatens to reverse these democratic gains.