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Many of us get used to a situation even though at the first instance it had looked grotesque. An overcrowded rail-coach without space enough even to stand, for instance, having a most uninviting appearance, slowly prompted many to make the most of a bad situation and they made friends and enjoyed the journey.
Government, for example, is supposed to be impartial, apolitical, and uphold the supremacy of law. That is what the textbook taught us. But what we experience sometimes is totally different. A government may push a deserving person to an obscure corner because his nose is crooked, like that of a parrot. One may be rewarded because he listened and, another, penalised because he spoke. And we get used to this opera.
With such bizarre norms practised without compunction, it was perfectly normal to expect that there would be no love lost between the government and genuine RTI activists. And this is what most people, except those with deficient sensitivity, witnessed for 24 years of rule by the previous government in my state. There was no case of an Activist ever receiving a bouquet from the government but there were cases of RTI Activists being prosecuted.
In this environment, I was taken aback the other day by an incident. It is about a refreshing initiative of the Mohan Majhi Government I noticed and it is worth mentioning. Odisha’s Law Minister attended an RTI activists’ meeting and liberally articulated the government’s endorsement of their good work. This made me both cheerful and hopeful. I saw light at the end of the tunnel.
Let me hope the present government will end the practice of appointing mostly retired officials to the State Information Commission and set a bold and healthy precedent by appointing a deserving RTI Activist as Odisha’s next Chief Information Commissioner.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
