Right to Information: Minutes of Synod Meetings Go Online  

The Right to Information Act 2005 passed by the Indian Parliament two years back is one of the most progressive legislations of its kind in the world as it makes all information held by government open to public scrutiny except for a very narrow band of information which can be withheld in special circumstances, if it is in the overall public interest to do so. 

The Right to Information Act reasons that every citizen has a fundamental democratic right to know how its elected government transacts business on its behalf and how our civil servants from Panchayat Raj representatives, to police, to the President function day to day.  The beating heart of the Act lies in the provision that file-noting cannot be hidden away from the public but must be available for scrutiny. The purpose behind this is to ensure open governance. File-noting provide proof that government is being properly run and show up wrongdoing, if any.  

File-noting make it clear how decisions are arrived at, whether advice was properly sought, considered, given and taken and provide evidence of whether decisions are taken on merit and established rule, regulations and procedures. This follows best practice across the world. In India access to file-noting is a radical provision. It is meant to overhaul our traditionally closed governance. It is aimed at breaking embedded habits of unwarranted secrecy that pervade government and create a clean, progressive and responsive bureaucratic culture that will benefit all.  It is intended to make government transparent and public servants accountable. 

Easy public access to file-noting is a sword against arbitrariness in decision-making, neglect of duty, abuse of power, subversion of process, and influence peddling. In a country drowning in corruption access to file-noting is the shield that protects every honest bureaucrat who has nothing to fear from disclosure. Honest bureaucrats have welcomed it and it has inspired a nation wide anti-bribery campaign. 

We, in the Synod of the Church of North India, believe that every member of the Church has a right to information on the happenings of the Synod.  As a practical step we have put all our proceedings, decisions and minutes of the Executive Committees and Office Bearers Meetings right from the 1^st Ordinary Synod to the 12^th Ordinary Synod on our Synod website for public access.