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Journalism of Courage
It is not hard to evince scepticism about Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani8217;s decision to give the public access to his ministry8217;s files on demand and payment of a token fee. The criticisms could range from the observation that the idea8217;s real worth will become clear only with time, to the remark that the step is confined to no more than one ministry of the government of India and that the track record of previous such attempts does not encourage hope.
Yet none of that detracts from the fact that this is a good step towards transparency, which is the greatest detriment to irregularity, arbitrariness and corruption in government. The genesis of this move lies, of course, in the well-ventilated divergence of views between the minister and the secretary in his ministry. If the minister feels that he has nothing to fear in letting the public see for itself in what guides his decisions, then that is both a welcome reflection of his confidence and an opportunity for the public to make sure that it isjustified confidence. This is all to the good.
In this they have traditionally had the backing of politicians whom it suits not to be accountable for their decisions. That Jethmalani has taken even a preliminary step away from that is welcome. Politicians need to recognise that openness is an exercise in self-legitimation and it is no threat to them unless they have a lot to hide.
Better still, of course, would be for the government as a whole to amend the OSA in such a way thatonly the most sensitive information, well defined, is held back. Simultaneously, the government must lose no time in introducing the Bill it has promised on the right to information which would actually oblige government and civil servants to provide information on demand. Even the very limited step initiated by Jethmalani would not have much meaning if the public did not know just which files it should ask for in seeking information on a particular subject.
Indexing of files in his ministry for this purpose is an absolute must and would be the yardstick by which the credibility of the stated intent to function openly is measured. On a much wider level though, since the most important decisions do involve the cabinet, public scrutiny of the cabinet8217;s decisions is crucial. This is clearly not within the ambit of the urban affairs ministry.
The onus is on the BJP government as a whole to establish its credentials as an open government. Radical as this idea is for India it is by no means an unusual practicefor liberal democracies. Both the US and Germany have laws that oblige the government to reveal information on demand. In Sweden the public may even view official correspondence. Opaque government in a democracy is a contradiction in terms.
