Shri Basudeb Banerjee, IAS (Retd.), State Chief Information Commissioner and Former Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal shared with The Chamber members his perspectives on the expectations of the Government from a premier chamber of commerce like the Bengal Chamber.


Shri Basudeb Banerjee divided his talk in two parts; he began with Right to Information (RTI) Act as he felt that it was important for everyone to know about the same and then took up the matter requested by the President of The Chamber.

The RTI Act came about in 2005 as a Central legislation with the essential idea that Governments should be transparent. There is a Central Information Commission based in Delhi which deals with RTI as far as the Central Government and all its organizations are concerned. Every State has an RTI Commission which has within its jurisdiction all the courts, other than the High Court, and other State organizations which falls under its jurisdiction.

Information in any form is covered by the Act whether a file noting, a letter or a law, regulation etc. and it includes the right to inspect. There is an elaborate system under which an individual or organisation can apply to a Public Information Officer who is required to respond within 30 days. Shri Banerjee detailed the procedures involved and the organizations which come under RTI.

Speaking about the Exemption Section of the Act which stipulates details of areas where information can be denied, Shri Banerjee stated that one of this was trade secrets and intellectual property. Besides, information of personal nature can also be denied. He gave the example of Supreme Court coming out with detailed clarifications on information of personal nature and privacy concerns in the Aadhaar case.

On the aspect of the Government.s expectation from Chambers of Commerce, Shri Banerjee shared some of his thoughts which are outlined below:

▪  On policy formulation matters, while Centre has public Think Tanks, in the State there exists a scope for Chambers to work towards this aspect specific to the problems of the State. A Chamber of Commerce can work as a Think Tank for the Government, be it for infrastructure or other developmental issues.

▪  There appears to be a role for The Chamber in Joint Committees with Government officials and The Chamber getting involved as part of a Joint Committee with the bureaucracy may be more effective in bringing about results.

▪  The Chamber has to be seen working effectively with certain Departments of the Government along with the bureaucracy as also political office bearers.

▪  The Chamber could engage with the Central Government on cross border issues, civil aviation matters, issues of ports, etc. specific to West Bengal, as necessary.

The meeting concluded with the President thanking Shri Basudeb Banerjee on behalf of The Chamber for his insightful address.