RTI

1. 1
RTI & Developing World
Aakash Deep
LBSNAA Induction

2. 2
RTI & Developing World
Limitations:
• RTI is a relatively recent-phenomenon.
• Not enough research material on RTI in Developing Countries.
• Developing Countries are extremely diverse in several respects
 socio-economic condition, constitutional status and political
systems, culture, history and state of law and order, etc. This
makes any generalization difficult.
• Approach to RTI has not been uniform in countries that have
RTI. (Eg. Reasons for adopting RTI are widely varied)
• Evolution of RTI in these countries since adoption of the Act
has been varied.

3. 3
RTI & Developing World
What are Developing Countries?
• Variously described
– Global South
– Emerging Markets
– Middle and Least Developed Countries, etc.
• Also known as Third World Countries
• While “Developed Countries” is essentially an
economic phenomenon, “Developing Countries” is a
Political description.

4. 4
RTI & Developing World
What are Developing Countries? (Contd.)
• Political Culture and social and economic conditions in
these countries are varied.
Approach to democracy is varied. Quite a few of
these are democratic in a formal sense only.
There is covert authoritarianism in quite a few of them.
• Comprise 4/5 of world’s over 6.79 Billion population.
Mostly poor and struggling.

5. 5
RTI & Developing World
What are Developing Countries? (Contd. 2)
• People in many of these countries are mal-governed.
Most have a colonial past and several have retained
colonial administration after independence.
There is pronounced reflex towards secrecy in
administration in most Developing Countries.

6. RTI in the 21st century
[Courtesy: David Banisar] [Disclaimer: Boundaries of countries may not be accurately depicted on this map]

7. 7
RTI & Developing World
Continent Total No. of
States
No. of
Developing
Countries
No. of Developing
Countries with RTI / FOI
Laws
Asia 42 36 14
Africa 53 53 8
South America 12 12 6
North America 19 17 2
Europe 39 15 11
Australia & Pacific 13 11 1
Total 178 144 42
RTI as adopted by Developing Countries
Courtesy : World Bank & IMF Reports

8. 8
RTI & Developing World
Continent Total No. of
LDCs
Total
Population
Total No. of LDCs with
RTI / FOI
Asia 10 306.17 million 1
(Bangladesh)
Africa 34 470.10 million 3
(Lesotho, Uganda &
Mozambique)
Australia & Pacific 5 1.02 million Nil
Caribbean 1 8.9 million Nil
Total 50 786.19 million 4
Least Developed Countries & RTI

9. 9
RTI & Developing World
Total number of UN Member Countries 192
Total no. of Democracies among UN Members 186
Total no. of Developing Countries among UN Members 137
Total no. of Democracies among Developing Countries 134
Total no. of Democracies among Least Developed Countries 49
Total No. of Democracies among Developing Countries with
RTI / FOI
30
Democracy in Developing Countries:

10. 10
RTI & Developing World
Democracy in Developing Countries (Contd.)
• A majority of Developing Countries which have RTI are
Democracies.
• Approach to RTI as a rights-driven instrument differs from
democracies to single party ruled States, authoritarian
States and covert authoritarian States.
• Evolution of RTI regimes in democratic countries and
not-so-democratic countries is markedly different.
• Even when Countries are signatories to human rights
charter, those with single party rule or authoritarian regimes
look upon RTI more as Transparency in governance than
as right. RTI, for them, is more “access to information” than
“right to information”.

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RTI & Developing World
Progress of RTI in Developing Countries:
• In 1990, only 12 countries had RTI  Mostly in the
Developed World.
• So far, over 90 countries have enacted RTI Laws.
• From 1990 till now, 68 countries have joined the list of
countries with RTI. Of which, 55 were Developing
Countries.
• Only 1/5th of World’s population generally has positive
conditions for RTI. The principal worry of these vast
number of people in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), is
a way to live  access to food and potable water.
• 1990 was a watershed in world history marked by collapse
of Soviet Union and bringing down of Berlin Wall, when
democracy was said to “break out”.

12. 12
RTI & Developing World
Progress of RTI in Developing Countries:
• Since 1990s, the right to information has acquired a vital
importance in those countries that have suffered
dictatorships and severe human rights violation.
• An example is South Africa’s Access to Information Law,
which became critical to the country’s transition from the
apartheid regime to the post apartheid Democratic set–up.
South Africa’s experience demonstrated that the presence
of right to information law reinforces the policy of healing
touch followed by post authoritarian governments.
• Push for RTI in States gained steam with democracy’s
world-wide acceptance as the principal mode of
governance. Developing Countries were slow to switch
over.

13. 13
RTI & Developing World
Progress of RTI in Developing Countries: (Contd.)
• Further steam was gained by the RTI movement by multilateral and
bilateral funding institutions actively promoting its cause.
• International rating agencies gave high ratings to countries with RTI
Laws in their transparency, integrity and governance indices.
• Civil Society institutions and advocacy groups played a role in
nudging Governments towards RTI Laws.
• Countries which didn’t have democratic forms of Governments 
Single Party ruled or covertly authoritarian  also adopted
Transparency Laws.
• In spite of this push, a majority of the countries in Africa & Asia are
still without RTI Laws. Some of these countries like those in North
Africa, are major States and international players.
• In Asia, 18 out of 57 countries (42%) have RTI Laws; while their
number for Africa is 8 out of 61 countries (15%) and 10 out of 14
(71%) for Latin America.

14. 14
RTI & Developing World
Why Developing World is slow to adopt or promote RTI?
• Slow democratization.
• Covert authoritarianism or authoritarian regimes usually
backed by Armed Forces.
• Limited participation in globalization process.
• Low Literacy Rates  especially in Least Developed
Countries  Out of 50 LDCs which are UN Members, only 3
have RTI Laws.
• Absence of Civil Society or Civil Society Movements.
• Inadequate or absent administrative culture  exploitative
regimes. Several African States have endured long civil strife
and internecine warfare.

15. 15
RTI & Developing World
• Most Developing Countries practice democracy in
some form or the other, but most have not adopted
RTI Legislation. Latin America is an exception though.
• In many Developing Countries, the Executive enjoys
vast discretionary powers, frequently backed by
Armed Forces. There is apprehension that RTI Laws
would dilute those powers or lead to irksome exposes.
• Developing Countries figure low on global integrity and
corruption indices. Executive authority there are not
too keen on transparency for obvious reasons.

16. 16
RTI & Developing World
• Most such countries do not face, or are immune to,
international pressure for internal reforms. Are
saddled with exploitative regimes  frequently
supported by powerful external forces keen on
exploiting primary produces  minerals, etc.  of
such countries at cheap rates.
• Poor international mechanism to enforce commitments
accepted by States through accession to covenants on
human rights  including Right to Information.
• Poor countries consider RTI expensive. Processing
cost of an RTI-petition is around 20 to 40 US dollars,
which is considered high and even unaffordable.

17. 17
RTI & Developing World
• Transparency guarantees linkage to the charter of
freedoms, paradoxically, stymied spread of
Transparency Culture in Developing Countries.
• China’s economic success has engendered a debate
regarding whether democracy is necessary to promote
welfare.
• Democracy is essential, but not a necessary condition
for information access laws.

18. 18
RTI & Developing World
Digital Divide:
• There is pronounced “Digital Divide” between Developed
and Developing World including LDCs.
• Access to electronic information  radio, television or
internet  is still poor in Developing Countries, especially
in Least Developed Countries.
• By end-2004, 14% of world population was using Internet.
Over half the population in Developed Countries had
access to internet, compared to 7% in Developing
Countries, and less than 1% in 50 or so LDCs.
• The Millennium Development Goals (2006) highlighted that
Digital Divide was working against spread of RTI in
Developing Countries and its strengthening in those
countries that already had it.

19. 19
RTI & Developing World
Digital Divide (Contd.):
• Ministerial declaration of ECOSOC also emphasized the
need for bridging the Digital Divide to strengthen
transparency guarantees.
• Developing Countries are frequently fearful of free
information  especially about trans-border information,
which is considered destabilizing. Their mind-set translates
into tightfisted approach to domestic information as well.
• It is a throwback on the 70s when guided by what was
called the New Information Order, developing countries
enacted laws to monopolise information and make its
dissemination or disclosure extremely difficult. Official
Secrets Act became pervasive.
• These laws prevented Developing Countries from taking full
advantage of Digital Revolution.

20. 20
RTI & Developing World
What can be done ?
• Transparency in governance needs to
be promoted as a virtue in itself  a
symptom of contemporaneousness of
government — rather than a by-
product of basic human rights.
• If we accept that a full democracy is a
pre-condition for the right to
information, it can be also said that
Developing Countries do not have the
chance to use the right to information
wholly yet.
• Mere adherence to transparency
through extensive voluntary
disclosure by administration is
sufficient to lead to substantial
improvements in governance.

21. 21
RTI & Developing World
What can be done (Contd.)?
• Transparency will promote Trust and Social Capital by lowering  if
not eliminating  the barriers between the government and the
governed.
• It will prevent rent-seeking and myriad forms of government
corruption that impair optimal utilization of resources to promote
welfare.
• Transparency is imperative because accurate and reliable
information held by Government regarding such matters as ecology
and environment, natural resources and their use, poverty and
related data, can play crucial role in devising correct strategies for
poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
• Transparency enables Developing States  democratic or not  to
appeal attractive to private investment capital seeking
world-wide investment avenues for “impact finance” in areas such as
poverty alleviation, literacy and education, healthcare, infant
mortality, nutrition, environment and so on.

22. 22
RTI & Developing World
What can be done ? (Contd.)
• Countries may be enthused to commit themselves to
progressively higher levels of transparency in administration, if
they are not required to simultaneously prove their democratic
credentials, which is a larger and, a lot more complex issue.
• It may be necessary to create a frame-work of minimum
transparency through a global covenant for all States to commit to
(on the lines of the Millennium Goals) over a defined time-frame.
• Multilateral and, even bilateral aid, should be tied to States
adhering to the normative goals  irrespective of the type of
regimes they have.

23. 23
RTI & Developing World
What can be done ? (Contd.)
• Strategically, it may help if transparency guarantees are located
within domestic arrangement for free flow of all manner of
information  radio, television, press and so on.
• Selective approach to information as a right may lead to
enactment of hollow laws, with no more than mere symbolic
value, and no real impact. Cause of transparency will suffer.
Governments should come out with General National Information
Access Policies.
• It is also time for examining if private and voluntary sectors be 
or can they be  kept out of citizens’ transparency rights.
• It has assumed urgency as progressive privatization is ceding
large areas of action earlier with Governments to private players.
PPPs are the new trend.

24. 24
RTI & Developing World
What can be done ? (Contd.)
• A phenomenon which has manifested in Developed
Country and is now manifesting in Developing Countries is
Asymmetric information.
• The few those have the wherewithal to access information
outpace those not so well endowed.
This needs policy-attention!!

25. 25
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Definition of Information:
India Any material in any form, including records, documents, memos,
e-mails, opinions, advices, etc. and information relating to any
private body which can be accessed by a public authority under
any other law for the time being in force.
Pakistan “Record” means record in any form, whether printed or in writing
and includes any map, diagram, photography, film, microfilm,
which is used for official purpose by the public body which holds
the record.
China “Government information” means information made or obtained
by administrative agencies in the course of exercising their
responsibilities and recorded and stored in a given form.
Azerbaijan Any facts, opinions, knowledge, news or other sort of information
produced or acquired as a result of any activities, irrespective of
the date of producing, presentation form and classification

26. 26
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Definition of Information:
South Africa ‘‘record’’ of, or in relation to, a public or private body, means
any recorded information—
(a) regardless of form or medium;
(b) in the possession or under the control of that
public or private body, respectively; and
(c) whether or not it was created by that public or
private body, respectively.
Mexico “Documents” means files, reports, studies, acts, rulings,
official letters, etc. and any other record that documents the
exercise of functions or activity of the subjects and public
servants compelled by the Law. The documents may be in
any form: written, printed, sound, visual, electronic, computer
data or holographic.

27. 27
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Time-limit for Disclosure:
India • Within 30 days of the receipt of the request.
• Life or Liberty: within 48 hours of the receipt of the
request.
Pakistan • Within 21 days of the receipt of the request.
China • Open Government information : On-the-Spot to the extant
possible.
• If On-the-Spot was not possible, then within 15 days of the
request.
• Maximum extension of time : 15 days.
Azerbaijan • Within 7 working days of the receipt of the request.
• Threat to Life, Health or Freedom: within 48 hours (except
for holidays and weekends) of the receipt of the
request.

28. 28
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Time Period for Disclosure:
South Africa • Within 30 days of the receipt of the request.
• For information which are voluminous or involving
consultation process, etc., a one-time extension of
30 days.
Mexico • Within 10 days from the time the request is presented.

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RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
System of Filing Petition and Appeal:
India • Petition for information can be filed in writing or through
electronic means, accompanying such fee as may be
prescribed, to the Central / State Public Information Officer.
• First Appeal before Appellate Authority  an officer senior in
rank to the CPIO / SPIO in the public authority.
• Second Appeal before the Central / State Information
Commission.
• Complaint before the Central / State Information Commission.
Pakistan • Petition for information can be filed before the Designated
Officer of a Public Body along with such fee as may be
prescribed.
• Complaint before the Head of the Revenue Division, its
subordinate departments and agencies with Mohtasib / Federal
Tax Ombudsman.

30. 30
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
System of Filing Petition and Appeal:
China • Petition for government information can be filed in written form
or orally (in case of difficulty) by citizens, legal persons or other
organizations, with government agencies.
• Complaint against an administrative agency, which has failed
to fulfill its obligations in respect of open government
information, can be filed before higher level administrative
agency, the supervisions agency or the department in charge of
open government information (The General Office of the State
Council).
Azerbaijan • Petition for information can be filed in written or oral form
before an “information owner” (viz. State authorities,
municipalities and legal entities irrespective of the ownership
type)
• Complaint before a Court or the “Authorized Agency on
Information Matters”.

31. 31
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
System of Filing Petition and Appeal:
South Africa • Petition for information must be made in prescribed form
(or orally in case of illiteracy or disability of the requester) to the
Information Officer of the Public Body.
• Internal Appeal within 60 days before the Relevant Authority
(viz. the Minister responsible for the Public Body / the person
designated by the Premiere or the Mayor / the Speaker in case
of Municipality)
• Application to Court against the decision on Internal Appeal.
Mexico • Petition for access to information by writing or using the forms
approved by the Federal Institute of Access to Information, can
be filed before the Liaison Section.
• Appeal before the Institute within 15 days of the communication
from the Liaison Officer.

32. 32
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Penalty provisions in the Statute:
India • Penalty @Rs.250/- per day (subject to a maximum of
Rs.25,000) shall be levied on the CPIO, as the case may be, if
the Commission is of the opinion that the CPIO has, without
reasonable cause,
 refused to receive an information-request.
 not furnished the information within the stipulated time.
 mala-fide denied the request for information.
 knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading
information.
 destroyed the information or obstructed in furnishing
information.
• If, in the opinion of the Commission, the CPIO has persisted
with any of the above default, it shall recommend for
disciplinary action against the CPIO under the Service Rules
applicable to him.

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RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Penalty provisions in the Statute:
Pakistan • Any person who destroys a record, which at the time it was
destroyed, was the subject of a request, or of a complaint with
the intention of preventing its disclosure, commits an offence
punishable with imprisonment for, a term not exceeding 2 years,
or with fine, or with both.
• However, no penalty for delay or non-disclosure.
• In case a complaint filed before the Mohtasib is found to be
malicious, frivolous or vexatious, the complaint may be
dismissed and fine upto a maximum of Rs.10,000/- may be
imposed on the complainant.
China • In case of violation of provisions of Open Government
Information Regulation by administrative agency and if the
circumstances are serious, then administrative penalty shall be
imposed on person(s) directly in-charge / responsible for the
administrative agency.

34. 34
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Penalty provisions in the Statute:
Azerbaijan • No penalty for delay or non-provision.
South Africa •A person who with intent to deny a right of access in terms of this
Act—
(a) destroys, damages or alters a record;
(b) conceals a record; or
(c) falsifies a record or makes a false record,
commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.
•However, no penalty for delay.

35. 35
RTI & Developing World
Certain RTI Regimes in Developing Countries:
Penalty provisions in the Statute:
Mexico • Public servants will be administratively liable for failure to
comply with the obligations established in the Access to
Public Information Law, in the even they commit, inter-
alia, the following acts:
Using, removing, destroying, concealing, disclosing, or unduly
altering the information in their custody.
Acting negligently, fraudulently in handling requests for
information.
Intentionally denying information that is not confidential
or categorized as classified.
Delivering information considered classified.
Intentionally providing incomplete information.
• Repeated default will be considered serious for purposes of
administrative sanction.

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