The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and the Pathfinder Foundation jointly presented a webinar to coincide with World Press Freedom Day.
The webinar included presentations by the Right to Information (RTI) Commission of Sri Lanka and the Central Information Commission (CIC) of India, two panels on “Implementing RTI: Development Priorities and Exposing Corruption” and “RTI, Privacy, and Data Protection”. The panellists included Chief Information Commissioner of India Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, RTI Commission Commissioner Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, The Indian Express Senior Editor and Member of the Express Investigative Team Shyamlal Yadav, independent researcher and advocate Ashwini Natesan, Sri Lanka CERT Director and Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) General Counsel Jayantha Fernando, and former Central Information Commissioner of India M. Sridhar. The discussion was moderated by journalist Waruna Karunatllake.
The Right to Information Act
Chief Information Commissioner of India Sinha opened the discussion by stating that it has been over 15 years since the RTI Act was implemented. “If we had a scorecard on how we’ve performed, I think the scorecard would be very much on the positive side. Of course, there are still a lot of milestones to achieve and a lot of work to be done, but going by the number of RTI applications filed, that is a testimony of how the Act is being used by everyone for their benefit.”
He noted that this Act has rightly been described as a sunshine legislation that has empowered the people. The Act is, on the one hand, the tool to transparency and accountability, and on the other hand, the tool to combat the evils of corruption and nepotism.
RTI Commission Commissioner Pinto-Jayawardena began by broadening the discussion from freedom of media and the RTI by highlighting the reasons this Act has become so powerful in her region and globally. “First of all, we should acknowledge that across the world, democracy and the rule of law are on the retreat. It would be very much opportune to say that all the essentials of the democratic order of a constitutional order that we are being made to observe are being rendered nugatory in the current climate in which our country is operating.”
She said that while we may think these norms are not necessary for a functional society, on the contrary, that is a very problematic train of thought observed in Sri Lanka. Describing the primary purpose of the RTI Act, she commented that it was to empower citizens, which is why they argued and advocated for it.
Development priorities and exposing corruption
During the webinar, independent researcher and advocate Natesan also presented her study on analysing linkages between the use of the RTI and decreased corruption/increased transparency in Sri Lanka. She analysed both the supply and demand factors while looking at how they would work together in bringing about decreased corruption and increased transparency with the use of the RTI Act.
Speaking on the topic of how the media used the RTI to fight corruption, The Indian Express Senior Editor Yadav commented: “Gradually, I can say with my experience, that by the time we have learned how to use the RTI, it will also become stronger day by day. Nobody can criticise this Act publicly – that is the power of RTI in India, but globally, this is not the cause.”
He observed that there are many great figures that have criticised this Act, although it works in the favour of the people of a country.
Concluding the discussion, ICTA General Counsel Fernando commented that the Act has been under discussion for many years. He said that we provide our information to a variety of sources when we want organisations to process our information for passports or IDs. “In that context, what is a moot point is the need to protect our framework, so over the years, efforts were taken to protect data.”
For more information on the subject, the webinar is available at SLPI’s Facebook page
Facebook: @SriLankaPressInstitute
