History of Rti

History of Right to Information movement in India The movement for the right to information was started in early 1990s by Mazdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangathan (which literally means ‘organisation for the empowerment of workers and peasants’) in remote village Devdungri (Rajsamand district, Rajasthan). It was a movement to expose corruption in the famine relief work by demanding information related to copies of bills, vouchers and muster rolls for workers recorded in government files. Following a period of struggle, MKSS succeeded in acquiring photocopies of the relevant documents in which the siphoning of funds was clearly evident. The successful experiments of exposing corruption through access to information was good learning experience for civil society, led to the demand of enactment of RTI law in Rajasthan. Government of Rajasthan yielded to pressure of movement and enacted the law in 2000. Success of struggle of MKSS led to the genesis of a broader discourse on the right to information in India and RTI laws were enacted in some states of India. The demand for national law started under the leadership of National Campaign on People’s Right to Information (NCPRI). In 1996, the Press Council of India headed by Justice P B Sawant presented a draft model law on right to information to the Government of India. A working group (Shourie Committee) under the chairmanship of Mr. H D Shourie was set up by the Central Government and given the mandate to prepare draft legislation on freedom of information. The Shourie Committee's Report and draft law were published in 1997. Eventually, the Shourie Committee draft law was reworked into the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) 2000, which was passed in the Parliament in 2002 but it was not notified. However, civil society raised several objections to FOI bill and suggested amendments to National Advisory Council. As a result of long drawn struggle of civil society; the RTI was enacted in 2005 in India. But the key question is, can