KEPF - India Right to Information ActIn 2005, a Right to Information Act (RTI) was passed. It is arguably the most thorough and comprehensive act on right to information passed by any national government to date, and it replaced a much weaker "Freedom of Information Act" passed earlier. The Act provides every Indian citizen with the same right as any Member of Parliament, or Member of Legislative Assembly, to obtain information from any government body, or body substantially funded by the government. The RTI Act creates Information Commissions in the Central and State Governments that are independent of the other branches of government, subject only to the Supreme Courts. The Act makes Public Information Officers personally liable by fines for each day that information is withheld beyond 30 days from application (with various extension in certain circumstances). This Act has the power, if fully implemented, to transform Indian government and society.
Promoting awareness of this act has been one of the Foundation's principle activities in the past year. This is combined with moral discussion seminars at rural colleges and elsewhere, with the understanding that devotion to the Rule of Law corresponds to stage 4 of seven stages of moral reasoning and practical social awareness that are part of KEPF's theoretical framework.
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