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 In the spotlight |
Strengthening Governance through robust Accountability mechanisms
Accountability is the single most potent leverage which the (governed) masses have towards those who govern them i.e. the political executive and the bureaucracy. The ways and means of seeking accountability has, in current times... Read more
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Strengthening Governance through robust Accountability mechanisms
Accountability is the single most potent leverage which the (governed) masses have towards those who govern them i.e. the political executive and the bureaucracy. The ways and means of seeking accountability has, in current times, extended beyond voting. The last decade has brought into the civil society space a new league of warriors who have contributed to the Right to Information Act, 2005, for transparency in the state machinery. The RTI has been given status of fundamental right under Article 19 (1) of Constitution and confers the right of citizens to know how the tax payers’ money is being spent by the government, by securing access to information under control of public authorities. It has thus become the rallying point for making the government and administration accountable.
However, a citizen can access only such information as is available on official records. Within RTI Act’s scope thus, one cannot have information on corruption of the officials within state machinery1. Additionally, there is spate of incidences of threat, physical harm and loss of lives of the information seekers under RTI. Media has reported 20 serious attacks on RTI activists across India during the first seven months of the year2 . These reveal a dangerous nexus between corrupt officials, politicians and mafia to prevent the public scrutiny of inconvenient information3. The problem is recognized even by the Central Information Commission.
 Blowing the whistle for Public Good - The Indian case
A parallel story that runs through the Indian democratic landscape is of vigilant citizen-‘the whistle blower’ working within the system and employed with the government , who speaks up against corruption as s/he knows of, from an insider’s perspective, and supported by facts.
Peter Jubb, an Australian scholar define Whistle blowing as ‘…a deliberate non obligatory act of disclosure, which gets on to public record and is made by a person who has or had privileged access to data or information of an organization, about non-trivial illegality or other wrongdoing whether actual, suspected or anticipated which implicates and is under the control of that organization, to an external entity having potential to rectify the wrongdoing4’
Satyendra Dubey5, Manjunath Shanmugham6, Manoranjan Kumar7, SK Nagarwal8 and Abhijit Ghosh are some of the shining examples of whistleblowers and responsible citizenry who attempted to cleanse the system. All of them have also suffered in the process, some lost their lives; others were harassed, transferred without post and salary or suspended from work on false charges.
Until recently, India did not have a legislation to protect both these categories of crusaders.
Protecting the Whistleblowers: Past efforts
In December 2001, based on the request of Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Mr. N.Vittal, Law Commission submitted a report and draft Bill ‘The Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill to the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs. This was followed by a Draft bill in 2003. In 2004, after the public outcry over murder of Satyendra Dubey, a Government Office order was issued making Central Vigilance Commission the main agency to receive written complaints of corruption, handle them and recommend appropriate actions. The jurisdiction however, was restricted to employee of Central Government and corporation, government companies, societies under Central Government. The Public Services Bill (Draft) 2006 stated that within 6 months of commencement of the Act, Government should place mechanisms for protecting whistleblowers9. In 2009, the draft ‘Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers)’ Bill was updated by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
The proposed Legislation
The recent approval by Union cabinet of Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010 has initiated fresh discussion on protection of ‘insiders’ who raise an alarm over misuse of government authority and funds and, more broadly, on accountability of state machinery. The bill is not in the public domain. From various press notes one understands that following are the key highlights of the Bill:
- The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will be the nodal authority for handling complaints over corruption in government ministries, offices and agencies. It will cover Central, State and Public sector employees.
- The CVC will be responsible for protecting the identity of citizens disclosing information and preventing their victimization.
- The CVC will have the power of civil court to punish those exposing identity of people who disclose information. "Revealing the identity of a whistleblower can invite up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs50,000” 10
- It stipulates 2 year jail term and a maximum fine of Rs 30,000 for people found to be leveling frivolous and false complaints against officials11
- Courts cannot interfere in such cases and will have no power over decisions made by CVC12
The Public Response
The purpose of having Whistleblowers’ Law is to encourage disclosure of information in public interest and people who expose corruption in government. Given that the Bill is still beyond the common man’s reach, some of the pertinent questions that people are asking include the following:
- What does the bill cover and whom does it leave out?
- Does it provide adequate protection to whistleblowers?
- Does it set up an investigative mechanism that has high degree of independence to carry on its work?
- What is the relationship of the bill with RTI Act?
Crusaders for state’s accountability towards the governed are not happy with the Bill. Transparency activists have called it ‘a mere formality13’ . RTI activists feel that while the bill concerns whistleblowers like them, they were not consulted in its drafting. Representatives from India Rejuvenation Initiative (IRI) have mainly 3 objections to the Bill.
- The term ‘Informer’ in the Bill should have been replaced by ‘Whistleblower’ since the former has a negative connotation and is used specifically in the context of police thanas- ‘Quite often, informers are paid by police officers…’
- It states that no disclosure submitted after 12 months of it being known to the complainant will be probed.
- It also states that no complaint will be probed after 5 years have lapsed from the date of alleged act having been committed.
Analysts opine that CVC is not a competent authority as i) its jurisdiction extends only to Central Government while to extend meaningful protection and investigate complaints would require bringing in its fold the state too ii) CVC does not have investigative capabilities and would be needing to outsource the work possibly to police and CBI which are not independent entities and iii) Selection process of CVC member is not foolproof14.
The protection extended to the whistleblowers is also weak. For someone who reveals the identity of whistleblower, more stringent measures should be in place. It is also widely felt that extending protection to the family of whistleblower should also be included as often harassing the family is a tactic employed to make whistleblowers withdraw cases as in case of RTI activists. The bill also does not cover the whistleblowers in the private sector.
Summing up
A legislation to protect whistleblowers in India was long overdue. The clearing of such a bill by Union cabinet signifies an acknowledgment of the depth of the problem.
A strong legislation favoring whistleblowers has the potential to encourage the culture of vigilant citizenship and complement the RTI movement, thus paving way for strong governance.
A good legislation however, does not in itself guarantee more power to the people. It is merely a tool provided in a democratic nation to be used by public at large. RTI and whistleblower policy per se are certainly very empowering tools. However its effectiveness will depend on awareness, simplicity, accessibility, and its practice in reality.
A recent study instituted by the government found the awareness level about the RTI even in urban areas to be only about 33%. While increasing awareness among people is certainly required what is even more urgently is to create a large scale public outrage for corruption and demand for transparency and accountability. Shake people out of their apathy and motivate them to act and use the tools and provisions provided to them for this explicit purpose. Therein lays the role of the civil society organizations for what is the use of tools if it were not to be used? The effectiveness of these legislations would be tested only through rigorous usage, and pave for further refinement wherever necessary.
Foot notes
| 1. |
www.globalpost.com/webblog/india/draft-comments-the-public-interest-disclosure-and-protection-persons-making-the-disclo |
| 2. |
www.hindustantimes.com/RTI-whistleblowers-under-attack/Article1-577528.aspx |
| 3. |
Ibid |
| 4. |
Whistle blowing: A Restrictive Definition and Interpretation, Journal of Business Ethics 21, 77-94, 1999 |
| 5. |
Employed with NHAI, he wrote to PMO on corruption and poor quality of work under highway construction, in his posting at Koderma, Jharkhand. |
| 6. |
Working with IOC, attempted to expose the racket of adulteration of petrol and the mafia behind it. |
| 7. |
Working with the Kandla Port Trust, submitted a confidential report exposing land scam of 1000 acres incurring loss of Rs 190 crores per annum to Kandla Port Trust |
| 8. |
Executive Engineer working on the project Eklakhi-Balurghat New Railway Lines, complained to the Railway Board and superiors on corruption in the project and the contractor mafia |
| 9. |
www.globalpost.com/webblog/india/draft-comments-the-public-interest-disclosure-and-protection-persons-making-the-disclo |
| 10. |
www.dnaindia.com/india/report_cabinet-clears-bill-to-protect-whistleblowers_1421158 |
| 11. |
www.hindustantimes.com/Armour-ready-for-whistleblowers/Article1-584146.aspx |
| 12. |
IANS: ‘Cabinet clears bill to protect whistleblowers’, published on August 10, 2010 |
| 13. |
The Hindustan Times: Civil society unhappy with whistleblowers’ Bill, published on August 6, 2010 |
| 14. |
www.globalpost.com/webblog/india/draft-comments-the-public-interest-disclosure-and-protection-persons-making-the-disclo |
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| CSO Partners Update |
Update on Flood Rehabilitation Programme
Two of the flood rehabilitation projects have successfully completed the project cycle. Community assets have been created; essential services restored; better preparedness for future disasters built; and livelihoods have been strengthened... Read more
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Update on Flood Rehabilitation Programme
Two of the flood rehabilitation projects have successfully completed the project cycle. Community assets have been created; essential services restored; better preparedness for future disasters built; and livelihoods have been strengthened. Oxfam India Trust, one of our partners, has directed an engaging documentary on flood rehabilitation programme. Visit has been made to Bihar to oversee programme progress in other projects, and involved field interaction with affected communities and current beneficiaries of the rehabilitation programme.
Workshop for developing Employee Engagement Programme
With a view to motivate employees of ICICI Phone Banking unit at Thane for engaging in socially relevant work, CSO Partners took a session for the employees on avenues of engagement through CSO Partners’ gateway. The addressed group is already engaged in donating through GiveIndia and is being considered as ‘Change Makers’ who would inspire their colleagues and carry forward the campaign for social giving by spreading around the word on engagement opportunities offered through CSO Partners.
NGO Advisory Services deepens roots
CSO Partners, through Governance Counts, its support partner, has been developing local support groups of highly qualified professionals in several cities, offering specialized services for NGOs. These are invaluable services for, in normal situation, such expert advice is out of reach of the latter. This quarter, discussion was held with the Pune panel on making the initiative sustainable and locally owned. In Bangalore, the panels have actively extended financial and knowledge support to selected NGOs. In Hyderabad a new panel has started, with ISB taking the lead in extending research support to one of the NGOs.
Harnessing strategic partnership
Collaborations are being explored in research and programme areas with several corporate and development agencies and CSO Partners has been actively developing concept notes and proposals to contribute to this.
Activities in the pipeline
- With the designing of Branch Banking programme nearing completion, the pilot programme will be launched shortly.
- CSO Partners is providing guidance to ICICI Insurance on programme design for its Truckers’ project which aims to reach out to the truckers through a customized Insurance Policy.
- CSO Partners is working out opportunity to engage with PRS Legislative Research through its Annual event-NGO Workshops on diverse areas that are relevant to the NGO community.
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| Partner Profile |
Governance Counts: building governance abilities in voluntary sector
Governance Counts, an initiative to develop efficient and effective Governing Boards of voluntary organizations, was started by Aarti Madhusudan, an alumna of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Aarti has worked both in India and abroad on the subject of good governance... Read more |
Governance Counts: building governance abilities in voluntary sector
Governance Counts, an initiative to develop efficient and effective Governing Boards of voluntary organizations, was started by Aarti Madhusudan, an alumna of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Aarti has worked both in India and abroad on the subject of good governance with clients such as ActionAid International, Sense International, the Resource Alliance, Magic Bus, Dignity Foundation, Dasra, and the India Foundation for the Arts.
It was during her work with voluntary organizations that the idea of Governance Counts started to grow roots. Voluntary organisations in India are usually registered under the various Trust Acts, the Societies Registration Act of 1860 and The Companies Act 1956. Each of the above requires the organisation to be governed by a Board. Many Boards of voluntary organisations in India are unaware of the line that separates governance from day-to-day operations. Many others are inactive, or have not been adequately engaged by the organisation. Board members receive little orientation on their roles and responsibilities, and most often, are there more out of goodwill for the cause or the organization's founder - or because of who they are as opposed to what they can do.
Governance Counts has been working to address this lacuna, with the belief that a good Board with committed and competent members will result in stronger and more sustainable organisations.
Governance Counts helps organisations create appropriate governance strategies, structures and processes based on the growth stage that they are at. It also helps find competent people who can make great Board members.
Aarti works with individual NGOs helping them with their specific issues of governance which include strategic guidance to develop better structures of Board governance, processes to enhance the accountability of the Board and finding potential Board members. Assisting in her work is a team of senior management professionals from the corporate sector who volunteer guidance and support on recommending good governance strategies. They also help her find competent people who would make potentially good Board members.
Governance Counts is presently coordinating development of NGO Advisory Panels for CSO Partners in selected cities and establishing their linkage with start ups and medium sized NGOs that need customized support in areas such as business proposal development; effective communication through usage of social media; financial management; development of HR policy and the like.
Such linkages have already resulted in meaningful mentoring of the NGOs who are benefiting in several ways. It is envisioned by CSO Partners, the supporter of Governance Counts, that in the long-run, the capacitated NGOs will be more impactful on the ground.
Governance Counts is an emerging success story-its key strength has been of bringing diverse set of senior professionals on a platform and drawing on their knowledge resources to strengthen NGOs.
For more information, please visit www.governancecounts.org.in
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