The right to information act came into force from october 12 2005, with experienced civil servant wajahat habibullah ,appointed as the information commissioner .similar commission has been set up at the state level.(There has been some controversy on the appointment of serving civil servants as information commissioner, on the ground of conflict of interests.

The bill was passed by parliament with 146 amendments.The main purpose of the act is to improve citizen government interface by laying down a system for accessing information which is simple easy, time-bound and inexpensive.The act provides for stringent penalties for failing to provide information.The act infact ,imposes an obligation on agencies to disclose information,suo motu, thus reducing the cost of access.

The folowing are the hightlight of the act .

-A 30 day guideline is given for providing information.The deadline is 24 hours if the information concerns life and liberty of person.

-The penalty for delay in providing without reasonable cause shall be Rs 250 and upto a maximum of Rs 25000.

-The act overrrides the official secrets act, access to information is allowed ,if public interest outweighs harm to protect persons.

-All categories of exempted information to be disclosed after 20 years except cabinet deliberation and information which affect security , strategic and economic relation with other foreign countries or leads to incitement of an offence.

-Information will be provided free of cost to those below poverty line and for others the fee will be reasonable.

-The act also covers NGOs which are funded by the government.

-The act exempts intelligence and security organisations, unless information pertains to allegation of corruption or human right violations.

-Information commission has been setup at the state and centre level.

THe right to information act is landmark legislation but there are certain grey areas which need to be clarified. for instance , a question has ben raised whether the act is applicable to bank which are sworn to strict secrecy laws.Maintaining secrecy and confidentiality is the pillars of banking.In the event of conflict between right to information act and banking norms of secrecy and confidentiality , which will prevail.

But as it happens quite often a good legislation remains good on paper with ingenious method devised to beat the law, but even if a small begnining is made in making government functioning more transparent and citizen friendly , then it will be a huge achievement. The act is powerful weapon for social activists,NGOs and human right organisations, provided it is not misused.