The citizen in India is at an enormous disadvantage if for some reason he confronts a government department. The reason is that the department has all the resources, the citizen few. Another handicap he faces is the lack of information on which to build his case. Therefore, the efforts that the Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad is making to ensure the right to information cannot but be commended. During a workshop that it organised recently, in which Development Alternatives participated, the CERC presented its version of the draft bill on the access to information for discussion. There is no denying the labour that has gone into formulating it; all the important aspects are covered by the draft bill. The legislation on the issue in the West has been studies so that the Indian bill does not have any lacunae. In fact, a CERC team toured the USA, Britain and other countries to secure access to all the legislation that was available. This is perhaps why it has slipped up. The Indian conditions on which it will be operationalised has not been taken into account. Upendra Baxi, in his presidential address, said as much: “Protagonists of access to information must, of course, learn from the law/policy in Scandinavian, European, and North American societies. But the poignancy of the Indian context, and the miserable in India, must not be overlooked. The movement for access to information is nothing less than a struggle to install accountability at the bleeding of nationalization of truth by state propagandists is not unique to India; what is unique to India that it becomes a credo of governance, a dogma of domination, almost a pagan ritual to propitiate the Gods of Power.” Baxi goes on to observe “The very worthwhile draft bill on Access to Information and Right to Privacy... overlooks this political formation. Its inspiration is mainly derived from overseas innovations and, therefore, assumes institutions and traditions which have yet to emerge in our experience, both in relation to the state and civil society.” During the course of the presentations and the discussions that followed, this observation was not taken up for examination. Hence, it will be well worthwhile for CREC to alter the draft bill as per Baxi’s suggestion; it already has several others that were made during the course of the workshop. The draft Bill can become an Act only if it is introduced in Parliament, perhaps as a private member’s bill. But the legislators are likely to support it if they have been educated about the need for it. This will require an educational campaign, or lobbying if you like, among the M.P.s. Has the CERC organised itself towards this end? The workshop itself went off smoothly thanks to the efficiency of Prof. Manubhai Shah and his three commandos, Ms. Pritee Shah, Ms. Priya Gupta and Ms. Sonia D. Shah. In fact, CERC is well experienced in organizing seminars and workshops as its annual report indicates. But that is not why it has acquired a reputation for never letting down the consumer. On his behalf, the NGO has taken a number of cases to court. It has firm faith in using the law to help him. As its brochure notes: “... the consumer movement could only take off if it was proved to the Indian consumer that protection of his rights and quick-redressal of his grievances was possible if proper means were adopted. For this (the) law had to be used in its widest possible sense -Public Interest Litigation, Administrative Advocacy as well Public Education of law makers.” It was the knowledge of the law that enabled the founding members of the CERC to secure their first victory on behalf of the consumer 15 years ago. When the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation decided to raise bus fares, four people - the founders of the as yet unborn CERC - questioned its “validity and legality”. They pointed out that the decision of a government owned body could not be taken on its own if it were to be impartial. Besides, the government had not given any reasons to the public for such action. In the event, the government did not revise the fares. Some of the more notable battles that the NGO has won one behalf of the consumers include:
The present pre-occupation of CERC is to build an “issue based coalition” of environment groups which are expected to draw up an agenda of national priorities for environment protection. The distinction between consumer protection and environment protection, CERC believes, now does not exist, if it existed at all cites the example of contaminated drinking water. The consumer as well as the environment are affected by it. The NGO is of the view that unless quasi-judicial tribunals for environment protection at he district, state and national levels are set up - like the Consumer Courts - to take to task the offenders, the situation will deteriorate, and rapidly (See the write-up on the National Environment Tribunal Bill, page 12). q
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