(a) What is meant by public interest? What are the principles and procedures to be followed by the civil servants in public interest? (10 marks, 150 words) (b) “The Right to Information Act is not all about citizens’ empowerment alone, it essentially redefines the concept of accountability.” Discuss. (10 marks, 150 words)

(a) Public interest

Public interest is the collective welfare of the community as a whole, as distinct from private, sectional or personal gain. For a civil servant it means acting for the common good with impartiality and long-term social benefit in view.

Principles to follow:

• Objectivity and impartiality – decisions on merit, not favour.
• Integrity and selflessness – no personal or political benefit.
• Transparency and accountability – reasoned, defensible decisions.
• Equity – fair balancing of competing interests, especially of the weak.

Procedures: follow due process and law, consult affected stakeholders, record reasons in writing, avoid conflicts of interest by recusal, and subject decisions to audit and public scrutiny.

(b) RTI and accountability

The Right to Information Act, 2005 does empower citizens with access to information, but its deeper effect is on the concept of accountability itself. It shifts accountability from being internal and periodic (to superiors, at appraisal) to external and continuous (to any citizen, at any time).

• It converts secrecy-by-default into disclosure-by-default, reversing the colonial Official Secrets mindset.
• It makes the file, the noting and the reason auditable by the public, deterring arbitrariness and corruption.
• It creates answerability directly to the citizen, not merely upward through hierarchy.

Thus RTI redefines accountability as a citizen's enforceable right rather than an official's discretionary grace, strengthening probity and, ultimately, public interest.