Official Secrecy & Corruption

November 19, 2017 142 Views No Comment

Let’s all acknowledge this truth that official secrecy and corruption goes hand in hand. Secrecy in government,the basis of which is the Officials Secret Act (OSA), remains a barrier to an open and accountable government.In fact the second Administrative Reforms Commission (under the then UPA regime) had recommended scrapping of the 90+ year-old Official Secrets Act (OSA) saying it was out of place with the regime of transparency in a democratic society.

The often repeated appeal for public vigilance or observing the customary vigilance awareness week (just concluded) is not going to help much in confronting corruption unless we also talk of openness and transparency in government’s functioning. In fact we should protest and demand for an open government.The fight against corruption certainly requires a new thinking and a new purpose.

It is against this backdrop that The Naga Republic has initiated a section in our website called Open Source. We hope to put up as much of information that will serve public interest.Also nicknamed The Governance Project, the idea of the Open Source section is to encourage transparency and openness in government. The Naga Republic believes that having an open government, which shares official information in the public domain, is one way of addressing systemic corruption present in our government system.

Through Open Source, The Naga Republic will strive to work with all stakeholders, including governments, so that the objective of good governance can be met. And as a first step The Naga Republic has put up several documents including sanction letters disclosing the allocation of over Rs 800 crores for the MGNREGA programme in Nagaland.

With the advantages that technology can provide, genuine effort is needed to co-opt technology into our governance. Somehow, there is reluctance on the part of our State bureaucracy and political class to go for this technology makeover. The reasons are not too hard to find. The government sector continues to resist change and would prefer to function on the old system of secrecy and red tape. There is no desire on the part of the government and also the lack of political will of our Ministers to promote a transparent, accountable and open government. While the top echelons of government arevery tech conscious however as far as their thinking goes, they prefer to cling on to the old mindset of secrecy and exclusivity.

If we are all serious about fighting corruption, which we all claim we are—whether it is the church, political parties, government and civil society—then open government is what is urgently required at this point. There is growing anger and distrust over the present situation—the prolonged infighting among our leaders for spoils of power, deplorable road condition, collapsing infrastructure, insensitivity to public grievances etc.

Our Chief Minister may have joined social media platforms to connect with citizens. But this is not enough nor is it a priority. People want transparency and accountability in his administration.

Information is indispensable for the functioning of a true democracy.A former Central Information Commissioner once said “RTI Act serves best when the citizens feels the least need to use it”. As head of the government, the CM should in fact direct the officials and government departments to maximize information (disclosure) in the public domain and thereby automatically promote transparency. The Naga Republic is there to support any initiative from whomsoever willing to promote a transparent and accountable system.

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