Abstract

The Right to Information is an empowerment tool in the hands of the citizens; as it allows them to seek any accessible information from a public authority. Since its passing in 2005, the RTI Act has been much discussed and debated at various forums by the civil society organizations and the government. The debates have centered mainly on the provisions of the Act, the problems in implementation and effectiveness of implementation. The debates and discussions have failed to take note of an essential ingredient of the legislation that of citizen’s participation. On what aspects do citizens seek information? What aspects of local governance touch their lives most? What roles and functions do citizens expect the local governments to perform? Are they aware of the functions that are devolved/assigned to the local bodies? Do citizens interests restrict to prescribed administrative issues or do they expect ‘more’ from the local governments?

This report denotes the results of a study by CBPS to understand citizens’ awareness and participation in urban governance and to note the constraints faced by the urban local governments in meeting the demands of the citizens, and is placed in the context of urban local self-governments. Results from this study would aid in the identification and analysis of the Institutional, Structural and Systemic factors facilitating and hindering the implementation of the RTI Act at Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Identification of the impediments, in the context of ULBs, and arriving at appropriate measures to overcome these are the basic objective of this initiative.

Sitaram, S. (2008). Citizen's participation, urban governance and right to information. Bengaluru: Centre for Budget and Policy Studies.