NGOs perform ‘public function’ or provide services similar to those provided by the government. Accountability and transparency in the functioning of NGOs is, thus, very important and should be ensured. Therefore, a NGO should function as a public authority under Section 2 (h) of The RTI Act 2005 in case the NGO is substantially financed, directly or indirectly, by funds provided by the appropriate government. Such NGOs should make pro-active disclosure as per Section 4 of the RTI Act on their website. HAQ: Center for Child Rights B1/2, Ground Floor, Malviya Nagar New Delhi - 110017 Tel: +91-26677412,26673599 Fax: +91-26674688 Website: www.haqcrc.org FaceBook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HaqCentreForChildRights

1. ROLE OF NON GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS AND THE RTI ACT 2005
Lt Gen (Retd) P K Grover
State Information Commissioner, Punjab

2. ROLE OF NON GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS AND THE RTI ACT 2005*
Introduction
In 2005 India, the largest democracy in the world, became the 56th
country to
introduce the Right to Information Act (RTI Act). The Indian RTI Act 2005 is one of
the most advanced Right to Information legislations in the world. It is a reflection of a
liberal and resurgent India that understands the power of knowledge in the hands of
the common man and takes democracy to the grass root level. It is a major step
towards ensuring participatory governance in the country. Also, it leads the
Government towards good governance having accountability, fairness and
transparency.
In providing effective and efficient governance in India as elsewhere Non-
Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are an indispensible, almost integral part of the
administrative machinery. From the grass-root level upwards NGOs are an important
support group for the government in the political and social arena and in the
implementation of all governments policies related to the areas of health, human
rights, environment, sustainable development, education, public distribution system
and welfare schemes.
According to a recent survey, India is teeming with approximately 3 million
NGOs - the largest in the world. Notwithstanding this large number, there are only
4000 NGOs in the country having their representatives at the Block, District, State
and National level.
Role of NGOs
NGOs play a useful role in supplementing and complementing the efforts of the
Government in providing effective and efficient governance. The dedicated and
devoted efforts and initiatives of these societies are essential in a context where
social problems inflicting the society are rife and enormous. Our people, especially
from the rural areas with relatively low rate of literacy, have limited knowledge of
their constitutional rights and find various government agencies inaccessible.
Informed citizenry is still a big challenge in India. Civil Societies function at the grass
root level as a bridge between the people and the Government and can prove to be
very significant for the implementation of the RTI Act. In fact, some of the most
innovative approaches to ensuring access to information have come from such
societies in the developing world. The NGOs have found a powerful weapon to
criticize and goad the Government on important issues such as education, health,
public distribution system, maintenance of law and order, human rights,
environmental protection and civic amenities. For the first time after independence,
the Act has brought hope to the citizens for governance with accountability from the
state.
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*Lt Gen (Retd) P K Grover
State Information Commissioner, Punjab

3. The primary function, thus, of a NGO is to act as a facilitator to strengthen and
institutionalize government-citizen interface.
NGOs must spread awareness among citizens, especially women and those
living in poverty and other marginalized sections, so that they actually exercise their
right to access information from various government offices. Filing of RTI
applications before various public authorities seeking information relating to public
interest must be encouraged while demonstrating relevance. For this the members
should maintain close interaction with all citizens.
The RTI Act, which empowers a common citizen, has a set systematic
procedure which must be clearly tabulated/ enlisted so as to identify the steps which
must be followed by any RTI user. Thus, all members of the NGO should be familiar
with various provisions of the Act, Rules, related central/ state government
notifications, and orders of the Information Commissions under Sections 18 and 19.
They should be trained in drafting questions and filing applications and procedure of
filing appeals and complaints.
NGOs must engage media, the fourth pillar of our democracy, and highlight the
problems faced in accessing information, in monitoring the RTI Act and on the issue
of corruption, injustice and malpractices. Recommendations for systemic
improvements can also be made through the media.
NGOs should endeavour to use the Act for development by promoting
transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority and checking
corruption to ensure good governance.
NGOs should assist administration/ Public Authorities in good governance and
should endeavour to bring about a change in the mind set, attitude and behaviour of
government officials. NGOs must build good relations with local administration. They
should also organize awareness workshops by inviting government and concerned
authorities in the field. That the NGOs and the government machinery are to
complement each others’ functioning needs to be significantly emphasized. The two
are not to be viewed at variance to one another but as a means to strengthen each
others’ role.
NGOs should monitor the implementation of the Act by various functionaries.
These organizations must also act as government sentinels by providing credible
and reliable independent information in parallel/ shadow reports while monitoring
performance of various committees constituted by the government. Simultaneously
they must form a network of NGOs to collectively address bottlenecks being
encountered in the implementation of Right to Information Act and share their
experience with the media and other NGOs.

4. RTI Act and the Non-Government Bodies
NGOs perform ‘public function’ or provide services similar to those provided by
the government. Accountability and transparency in the functioning of NGOs is, thus,
very important and should be ensured. Therefore, a NGO should function as a public
authority under Section 2 (h) of The RTI Act 2005 in case the NGO is substantially
financed, directly or indirectly, by funds provided by the appropriate government.
Such NGOs should make pro-active disclosure as per Section 4 of the RTI Act on
their website.
Not all non-government bodies are categorized as public authorities. Under the
Act, a non-government body needs to be substantially financed or controlled by
government to be categorized as a public authority. While there is no definition of
‘substantially financed’, contained in the RTI Act, arguably NGOs are accountable to
the government for the funds they receive from it and in turn, are automatically
accountable to the public. In a number of judgments, our Courts have expanded this
interpretation to argue that NGOs that perform public function or provide services
similar to those provided by the government are subject to the provisions of the RTI
Act.
To define ‘substantially financed’ the Second Administrative Reforms
Commission has made the following recommendations:
“(a) Organisations which perform functions of a public nature that are ordinarily
performed by Government or its agencies, and those which enjoy natural
monopoly may be brought within purview of the Act.
(b) Norms should be laid down that any institution or body that has received
50% of its annual operating costs, or a sum equal to or greater than Rs 1Crore
during any of the preceding 3 years should be understood to have obtained
‘substantial funding’ from the government for the period and purpose of such
funding.
(c) Any information which, if it were held by the government, would be subject
to disclosure under the law, must remain subject to such disclosure even when
it is transferred to a non-government body or institution.
(d) This could be achieved by way of removal of difficulties under Section 30
of the Act.” (1)

5. Conclusion
The services of NGOs should be utilized for creation of awareness and
educating masses of the channel through which they can seek information. The
NGOs can be very effective as agents of the state for implementing the RTI Act. The
RTI Act, if used properly, would ensure qualitative improvement in the functioning of
democracy by ensuring that people, especially from the under privileged and
marginalized sections of the society, have the power of information and ability to use
it properly. It will also establish accountability of the government to the public and
improve the state of governance.
References
1. Right to Information, Master Key to Good Governance, First Report of the
Second Administrative Reforms Commission, Government of India, June 2006, Page
44.
2. Publications of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi including
articles on website http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org.
3. Publications of Institute of Good Governance, Hyderabad.
4. A large number of articles available on the internet dealing with the Role of
NGOs.