Duty to ‘act rightly’ is as important as knowing your rights through RTI, says PM Modi

He said that an “empowered citizen” is the strongest pillar of Indian democracy. Listing out the NDA government’s initiative to empower citizens, Modi said, “…over the last four years, the Union government has been informing and empowering people through various means.” The Prime Minister said that like the RTI (Right to Information), the concept of ‘Act Rightly’ should be discussed, and citizens should be informed about their duties along with their rights.

He urged the CIC, which has a large public interaction, to take up the task of making aware the citizens about ‘Act Rightly’.

He said since the enactment of the RTI Act about 12 years ago, the CIC has been operating from rented accommodation and his government, in 2014, accorded a sanction of Rs 60 crore for constructing an independent building for the transparency body.

According to Modi, there have been many examples in history when information is treated like a one-way channel and hence there were many serious consequences thereof. “So our government, instead of one dimensional approach, works on the principle of modern information highway,” he said.

He enumerated five pillars of the modern information highway. He said the first pillar is to ask questions (sawaal). In this context, he mentioned the MyGov citizen-engagement platform. The second pillar, he said, is listening to suggestions (sujhaav). He said the government is receptive and open to suggestions received from CPGRAMS, or on social media.

The third pillar is interaction (sanvaad), which, Modi said, establishes a connect between citizens and the government. The fourth pillar is activity (sakreeyata). The Prime Minister said that during the implementation of GST, there was active follow-up on complaints and suggestions.

The fifth pillar is information (soochna). Modi said that it is the government’s duty to inform citizens about its actions. He said the government has begun a new practice of providing information through real-time updates, online dashboards. Information on progress of schemes such as Saubhagya and Ujala has been made available, he said.

Modi also said that the information commonly asked for is being uploaded on web portals of the departments and ministries concerned. “Digital technology is being used to improve transparency and quality of citizen services. Similarly, projects are being tracked in real-time,” he said.

He said that in a meeting of PRAGATI last week, the progress of reconstruction works at Kedarnath was monitored through a drone camera. He said the PRAGATI meetings have helped speed up projects worth over 9 lakh crore rupees.

The Prime Minister gave the example of the closing down of the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals. He said that public procurement is now being done through the Government e-Market, or GeM platform. This is helping end corruption and bring transparency in government procurement, he added. He also spoke of minimising human interface in government-people interactions.