Geetartha Pathak
The exact meaning of the Sanskrit origin word “swachh” is transparent and not clean as many of us confuse it to be. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ is an ambitious mission which seeks participation of all citizens from different age groups in order to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of ‘clean India’. He has received tremendous response from the public. Cities and villages look neat and clean overnight. However, we are yet to get a transparent India.

NATIONAL PRESS DAY

The country has experienced rampant corruption almost in every department that includes the defence and strategic sectors on account of secret dealings between the bureaucrats, political leaders, corporate and the middlemen. In spite of the enactment of Right to Information Act 2005, right information at the right time is rarest in the country. Mega corruption in coal allocations, 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games, Adarsh Colony, Rolls Royce etc are only a few to name. All these scams wouldn’t have happened had the process of allotment been done in a transparent manner. The exposure is thanks to the CAG and a section of enthusiastic media.
Today, on ‘National Press Day’, the Press Council of India has the theme: “Transparency in Public Affairs: The Role of the Press”. The word transparency nowadays is widely used in the affairs of Government, business and social organizations to denote openness and accountability. Transparency means operating in a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. Public affairs means matters of general interest or concern, especially those dealing with current social or political issues.
Therefore, transparency in public affairs means accountability and openness of the affairs of the Government and other organizations dealing with the public. British Professor of Accountancy and co-author of book ‘Transparency: The Key to Better Governance’ David Heald stated that many societies believe that transparency would reduce governmental malfeasance through its “sunshine” effect. To him, the demand for transparency has grown rapidly, with organizations in both private and public sectors being encouraged to be more transparent. After enactment of RTI Act in India, people are talking about transparency in governance and it is now an issue in times of election, revelation of major corruptions or failure of the State.
Corruption is an old colonial phenomenon, which dates back from the beginning of the 20th century. The disinfectant sunlight could not enter the fortified castle of our country’s administration since the rule of the British. Their weapon to indulge in corruption, by siphoning public fund from the coffers, was blatant secrecy. Therefore, to achieve their mundane goal they introduced infamous acts like the Official Secret Act of India (1923), Indian Evidence Act (IEA) etc. that remain unrevised despite decades of effort. The OSA arms the administration to deny access to any information to the public and the IEA gives opportunity to the courts to decide the scope of the public’s right to inspect.
The long-wrapped shroud over the administration had begun to shake for the first time when the Supreme Court observed in the famous S. P. Gupta Vs. President of India (1982) case that the disclosure of information about the Government and the right to know about Government come from the guarantee of free speech and expression in Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution. This observation came in a series of judgments in that period.
In spite of its limitations and shortcomings, the enactment of the RTI Act is a major step towards ensuring a participatory developmental process in the country. To make the law truly effective, the active participation of the society particularly the non-governmental organizations at large is needed. The Press can take a proactive role by simplifying and disseminating the possibilities under the RTI Act. The pervasive influence of media can affect public opinion. It has been stated that the only means of influencing what people think is precisely to control what they think about.
The media has immense power and accessibility to control what people think. On the other hand, the media itself should be transparent in processing news and views and it must impress the readers /viewers with unbiased media product. Biased information can affect public policy if the Government manipulates information in order to cast a positive or negative light on it. Depending on how transparent a news article is, one can determine its reliability and draw one’s own conclusions from the findings.
The recent revelation of ‘paid news’ phenomenon in India has eroded the credibility of a section of media. The huge spending in the publicity head by political parties during elections indulges paid news in media. Association of Democratic Reform (ADR) quoted that Radha Timblo, one of the three black money account holders in foreign banks of the list of 628 named by the Central Government at the direction of the Supreme Court donated Rs 1.18 crore to the BJP and 65 crore to Congress between 2004-2012. Such denoted money must be percolated from the mining barons and corporate houses to a section of media in the form of paid news.
The PCI has observed that many companies offer shares and debentures to the media houses in lieu of news to be published in favour of the big business and corporate houses. Paid news is a double barrel gun by which a section of media earn money for publishing advertisement in the garb of news and at the same time evades taxation for the income they earn by such scandalous ways. How then will media companies focus on black money stashed in foreign banks, when they themselves generate black money using media power?
Democracy requires the active participation of citizens. Ideally, the media should keep citizens engaged in the business of governance by informing, educating and mobilizing the public. In many western countries, radio has become a popular medium of expression, as it is less expensive and more accessible. FM and community radio have been effective instruments for promoting democracy at grassroot level by airing local issues providing an alternative source of information to official and monopolized channels. However, the Government has not allowed private and community radio to broadcast news and views except entertainment and academic programmes perhaps as a shield to sunshine effect.
Further, concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few is a matter of great concern. Now politicians are investing in media to enhance their image and to influence the political system. In view of such media environment, people are looking for alternative media to get the real picture of social and political developments and at the same time to use the new media as an instant conduit of their feelings. Social media has filled in the vacuum and hence gained immense popularity.
President George W. Bush’s administration was often criticized for being the most secretive administration in history. With this background, President Barack Obama took office in 2009 promising to lead the most transparent administration in history. However,   Obama has been criticized by the media for not keeping his promise of transparency. He is criticized for secretly obtaining AP phone records to find a government leak, denial of provision of Information Act and politically driven suppression of news and information about federal agencies etc.
The UPA Government which has received accolades for enacting the RTI Act itself suppressed information pertaining to some major financial anomalies and corruptions and tried to later dilute the provisions of the Act. In many States applicants hardly get response to their queries under the Act. People often complain that they get no response to their queries from Government departments. Many departments try to find faults in RTI applications only as an excuse not to reply. Even if they do, they are vague and not to the point. Therefore, pseudo transparency has taken the place of transparency. In such an environment of non-cooperation and opacity, transparency in public affairs has turned to be a far cry.
Notwithstanding the shortcomings, the media as a whole in the country has contributed tremendously to bring transparency in governance and in public affairs. The information hungry and justice seeking people of the country are expecting more from media. We can hope that traditional, electronic and the vibrant social media can fulfil the expectation of the people by harping on the body politic to deliver transparency in a transparent way.
(The author is former Member, PCI)