The NCPRI in the past has organized two National RTI Conventions in Rajasthan and New Delhi, and one Regional RTI Convention in Andhra Pradesh, each of which was witness to the participation of over 500-700 delegates across the country. Conventions organized by the NCPRI ordinarily comprise of:
- plenary sessions that guide discussions on the Right to Information Legislation and related broader themes of governance
- series of parallel workshops on the use of the Right to Information Act in specific sectors like- judicial accountability, delivery of social services, status of citizens’ entitlements/services, media, public administration, food security, agriculture policy, transparency in corporate and international entities etc
- use and display of alternate modes of expression and communication, like use of theatre, songs, slogans, rallies that have helped give the Right to Information movement of India its unique identity
The preparations of the NCPRI’s 3rd National RTI Convention being organized in Shillong, Meghalaya is now under way. The NCPRI has chosen to locate this Convention in Shillong so that it provides us with a great opportunity to learn from the significant experiences of the North East in the use of the RTI. The 3rd National RTI Convention being organized by the NCPRI comes after 5 years of passage of the historic RTI Act which has empowered us all in varying degrees. This interaction will provide an important opportunity for all of us to share our wide and rich experiences in the use of this law, and help us focus on its intrinsic relationship with the broader themes of democracy, transparency and accountability, and the future role of citizens groups in the process of deepening the reach of the RTI.
In addition, the NCPRI has been at the forefront of stimulating a healthy debate in the civil society, each time amendments to the RTI rules and the Act were being proposed by the Government which could have seriously diluted the power of the legislation. This was supported by the NCPRI through organizing public meetings, and engaging in discussions with Government officials to develop a more informed dialogue process. The NCPRI has also held public meetings/hearings on the need for a comprehensive, enabling and strong Whistleblowers Protection Bill, by supporting the need for more such platforms of interface between the State administration and the public opinion.
At present the NCPRI is in the preliminary phase of building a broad based public campaign for a more transparent pre legislative process based on greater and deeper consultations with the citizens of India. Under Section 4 of the Right to Information Act, the policy making institutions are mandated ‘to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect public’. Despite the processes of participatory law making established in India for instance like the RTI and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the process of law making in India still remains a jealously guarded domain. The poor and the vulnerable have suffered systematically because of legislations passed without public
participation in the process of shaping it. The transparency and accountability of the pre legislative process is crucially important for a mature and responsible democracy. There is a need to formulate a system that will ensure that all laws , from the time of policy to the formulation of the final Bill will follow the dialectic of public scrutiny and legal drafting. There are many such bills, that can potentially change the way people live their lives like- The Communal Violence Bill, The Food Security Bill, The Seeds Bill, The Nuclear Liability Bill, The Whistleblowers Bill, The Torture Bill, The Land Acquisition and R&R Bills, The BRAI Bill, The UIDAI Bill ,The Lok Pal Bill, Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children Bill, Judicial Accountability Bill, Political Reform (Bill and Constitutional Amendment), Mining Bill, The Beggary Bill etc, about which the people have a right to know.
