Passed on March 12, 2005, and enacted three months later, the Right to Information Act is a year old. But who in India can read what it says? Five per cent of the population that reads English and another 20 per cent who can read Hindi, Gujarati or Marathi.And where the Act is available in a local language, the Users’ Guide is not, turning the legislation into a non-starter for most people.Even as Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah admits this is a drawback, the government is in no hurry, worried that if hastily rephrased, the Act might be lost in translation.“Not just the Act, I think its Users’ Guide must be immediately made available in at least all official languages,” Habibullah told The Indian Express.“I am only waiting for someone to file an official complaint with the Commission so that some action can be initiated,” he admits.While Section 26 of the RTI Act gives states 18 months to install official translations of the legislation and its guide, Habibullah says the Government should not use this to buy time.The RTI Act was drafted by the Department of Personnel and Training, which also oversees translations. “We have to make sure the Act is translated correctly—there is already a Marathi version and the English and Hindi ones are up on our website,” says a DoPT official. “We don’t want any errors and so the process is taking time.”The result: a Braille version of the RTI Act might be available much before an Oriya, Bangla or Punjabi one. Delhi-based NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has decided to translate the RTI Act and Guide into Braille at its own cost.-pragya.singh@expressindia.com
