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Title: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION: AN OVERVIEW OF INDIA, CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES
Authors: Zain Chhatari
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Zain Chhatari Step By Step School, Noida, India
MLA 8 Chhatari, Zain. "A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION: AN OVERVIEW OF INDIA, CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 7, no. 10, Oct. 2022, pp. 3401-3416, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2022.v07i10.014. Accessed Oct. 2022. APA 6 Chhatari, Z. (2022, October). A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION: AN OVERVIEW OF INDIA, CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES. Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 7(10), 3401-3416. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2022.v07i10.014 Chicago Chhatari, Zain. "A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION: AN OVERVIEW OF INDIA, CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 7, no. 10 (October 2022), 3401-3416. Accessed October, 2022. https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2022.v07i10.014.
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ABSTRACT: There are now 126 nations that have regulations or laws that encourage access to information in some shape or form. In this paper, we examine three countries – India, China and the US to understand their laws that cover freedom of information and how these countries are faring in terms of implementation. India and the US being the largest and the oldest democracies in the world respectively while China being the most populous, the purpose of this paper was to examine how well is the access to information act implemented in these countries. The purpose of the act is to provide unhindered access to state information provided it does not fall under one of the exemptions or exclusions stated in the respective regulations. The paper first compares the provisions in the respective acts to see if each one caters to the fundamental right to freedom of information. We, then, review journals, articles, posts to see how well is this act being utilized and if there are any challenges witnessed. While all three acts cover the spirit of freedom of information, there are some variances to be found. From an implementation and impact standpoint, while this has made a significant difference in providing information to the people, there still are some challenges that need to be overcome – the expected turnaround time as stated in the act is seldom met and we find plenty of cases where the state withholds information by quoting one of the exemptions incorrectly. We also see that there are technological, operational and financial challenges which need to be resolved to help make this act work better in the coming times.

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