MESSAGE BOARD
NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Karnataka says its right to information law is the best

The Karnataka government's proposed ordinance on the right to information, which it said was 'demonstrably superior' to the Centre's bill on the subject, provides for penalty and disciplinary action for failure to supply information by the competent authority.

Giving highlights of the ordinance, which the state Cabinet cleared on Thursday, Information Minister B K Chandrashekhar said the Centre's Freedom of Information Bill, introduced in Parliament by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Nantional Democratic Alliance government, contained no such provision.

He said the bill defined information as information relating to any matter in respect of affairs of the administration or decisions of a 'public authority', including all offices of the state government, all local authorities, company, corporation and organisation funded or owned by the government, among others.

Chandrashekhar said the ordinance was in line with the government's commitment to ensure openness, transparency and accountability in administration by providing for the people's participation in administration.

With the ordinance, Karnataka will be the fourth state in the country to go in for a measure on the right to information after Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Goa.

Chandrashekhar said the state's ordinance was an advance over existing state legislations, noting that the obligation for mandatory disclosure by public authorities of 'all relevant facts concerning important decisions and policies that affect the public' were not incorporated in the other states' laws.

Tell us what you think of this report