Determinants of Right of Access to Information (R-ATI): Application-Status based Select Case Analyses from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India

Abstract

For good governance to exist in both theory and practice, citizens must be empowered to participate in meaningful ways in decision-making processes. The Participants of democratic India i.e. citizens, have a right to know “what, how and why” of any decision, changes or continuity regarding its functioning. Right to Information (RTI) is a constitutional right of citizens guaranteed as per articles 19 and 21 of the constitution of India that was enacted in the Indian Parliament in 2005. On the one hand, access to information remains a hindrance to citizen participation in the so-called Information Society, while on the other the rights to such information is not guaranteed absolute as a constitutional aspect. This research is an attempt to examine the determinants of R-ATI in the purview of information society. Focal elements of this study will help to analyse various parameters that constitute R-ATI for good governance in terms of: a. Transparency b. Accountability c. Information provision: Disclosure & non-disclosure d. Awareness e. Active citizen participation f. Info processing cycle g. Citizen empowerment A descriptive investigation action into the relevance of the above-stated parameters through a detailed analysis of various theoretical underpinnings to observe the dissemination of information to the public by the government reasonably, without causing any political instability as the provision of information is a national asset of a country like India. This is in congruence with the RTI Act 2005 that provides means to secure access to information from a public authority. A few cases will be analyzed in this regard to correlating this theoretical concept. Further investigation will examine factors hampering free flow of information that will address issues pertaining to “access to information” and “access to know”. Conceptual approaches in Information Access will provide a methodological basis to criticality assessment of various concepts of Information Ethics as examined by various scholars in this domain. Demonstrating the use of Information Access provision by citizens and dissemination by authorities constitutes the conceptual framework of this study to explore the interrelationship between determinants and factors constituting the access to guarantee the Right to Information to the public. An infocommunication model of R-ATI is, hence, proposed and intertwined with the conceptual framing of the select parameters or variables under investigation.