Right to Information: Accounts and Accountability

Public participation is the most important factor which has the potential to ensure transparency in governmental decision making. It lays the foundation for efficient self-administration and decentralization. Access to Information plays a vital role in the area of better democratic governance. It endorses better transparency and makes the organs of the government accountable to the people of the state thus helps in checking corruption and malpractices. Right to Information Act 2005 is thus considered to be one of the cornerstones with respect to better accountability and governance with respect to India. The RTI Act provides for access of every public document to every citizen of India, hereby promoting the Right to life and personal liberty and freedom of expression enumerated under Article 19 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India. This paper discusses the aim and objectives of the Right to Information Act and also provides for the undermined fact that the Right to Information is not an absolute right and subject to certain limitation. Further this paper seeks to discuss various modes through which the said legislature can be improvised in practice so that the best of it could be achieved by the citizens to insure a better, transparent and accountable democracy