Thursday, May 12 2005 16:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Terming it as a "pace-setting" measure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (May 12, 2005) assured that adequate safeguards have been built into the Right to Information Bill to prevent its misuse.

"I do think the bill strikes a right balance. The intention of the Bill is to evolve an interface between citizens and the process of Government. It is the not the intention to paralyse the public administration," Singh said, intervening in the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

Singh said that the Bill would see the "dawn of a new era" and strive to eliminate the scourge of corruption and strengthen democracy.

Agreeing with the views of P C Alexander (Ind), Singh said that next three to four years would be crucial for operation of the Act.

Observing that there was concern about probity in public life, concern about eliminating corruption and inefficiency, the Prime Minister said that sometimes difficult decisions have to be taken in conditions of uncertainty and, therefore, the Bill attempted to strike a balance.

The Prime Minister said that the Bill was a "truly pace setter", particularly "when we are dealing with a complex society, which requires extensive interface of the Government with the people in day-to-day functioning".

When total Government expenditure accounted for 33 per cent of GNP and because of various complexities, Government would have to interfere by way of a regulatory body, he said.

It was, therefore, of utmost importance that the Government takes steps to deal with problems of corruption and inefficiency at various levels with utmost caution.

The Bill is a quest to create that sort of mechanism that would empower the people to enable them to judge whether the Government functioning was in public interest in the widest possible sense of the term.

The Prime Minister said that it goes without saying that all information could be misused but it also depended upon the manner in which information seekers approach their task.

"I do recognise the dangers that are inherent in our society", he said adding that the idea behind the measure was to ensure that information was not a monopoly of a few.

Regarding the apprehension of civil servants to the Bill, Singh said that the intention of the bill was to evolve an interface between the people and the process of the governance.

"It is not the intention to paralyse public administration", he said adding these are to ensure teeth to the measure.

Regarding Alexander's observation that 120 days were too short a time for putting in place the required information for operationalisation of the Bill, Singh said that he would try to address the issue while formulating the rules of the legislation.

He justified the exemption of certain agencies, including security, from the provisions of the bill saying, "We are living in a dangerous time.

"We all know the harm that some pernicious problems like terrorism inflict on modern society. Sometimes the best becomes the enemy of the good in public life", he said.

The Bill has attempted to strike a right balance and the list of exemption have been kept as small as possible, the Prime Minister said.

At the same time, Singh said that the bill has enough provisions for getting information from the exempted agencies if it was required for issues like allegations of corruption and violation of human rights.

He admitted that there were leakages in public spending and at times the funds earmarked for poor did not reach them and were eaten away by some influential people.

The Bill was yet another instrument to ensure that public funds were not misused and the system of democracy functioned in a transparent manner making those responsible accountable to the people, he said.