India loosening centuries-old grip on information.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis

British colonial rulers left India a massive bureaucracy enmeshed in a culture of secrecy. After more than half a century of democracy, governments still remained opaque, unaccountable, and corrupt. Even requests for official information on such innocuous issues as the stock of flee medicines for malaria and snakebites or the amounts spent on sewer lines and schools were met with hostility by government officials.

In response to a grassroots movement started in Rajasthan, India has begun loosening its grip on information. In the past six years, nine states have passed freedom of information laws that grant citizens access to government files. Rajasthan, for example, adopted a state law three years ago guaranteeing the right to information. Since then, villagers have opened previously inaccessible government files on food supply, health programs, and development projects, exposing fraud and forgery.

A national law regarding freedom of information has cleared Parliament and awaits the president's signature, but India is still a long way from improving access to government information. Despite the laws, official reluctance to open files still runs deep. The Delhi state government has about 2,000 pending requests for information. A New Delhi-based civic action group applied for information on what the 70 elected members of the Delhi state legislature had spent from the development budget during their term. The group was sent from one office to...