On 15 June 2005, India did not just pass a new law. It gave its citizens a power: the power to ask questions. Even more important, it gave them a legal right to demand answers.

The Right to Information law, which came into force twenty-one years ago, changed the relationship between the government and citizens. It shifted the balance of power, even if slightly, toward the common person. Files that once gathered dust in locked cupboards became accessible. Decisions that had been taken behind closed doors came under public scrutiny. The message was clear: government information is not the government’s property but belongs to the people.

A senior advocate says, “Before RTI, the face of governance was hidden. People had to run from office to office to get information about ration cards, pensions, road construction, land records and government schemes. Getting information was not a right; it was considered a favour.”

The RTI Act changed that mindset. It recognised that democracy would be stronger if citizens were informed and governance was transparent. The law gave every Indian, regardless of economic or social status, a simple right to ask: where and how is the public money being spent? That question began to echo through the halls of power.

Over the last two decades, RTI has exposed many major scams. The Adarsh Housing Society scam in Maharashtra revealed that a housing project meant for war widows and soldiers had been taken over by politicians, bureaucrats and influential people. The exposure forced then-Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to resign.

RTI requests filed by activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal played an important role in revealing irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation case. That sparked a national debate and began the process of holding people accountable.

RTI also played a key role in exposing corruption related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games; fake expenses, cost inflation and misuse of funds meant for welfare programs were brought to light.

In the widely discussed Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, efforts by Dr Rai and other activists using RTI uncovered fake candidates, recruitment fraud and organised corruption.

In the Maharashtra irrigation scam, RTI revealed a mismatch between huge project costs and only a small increase in irrigated area. But RTI’s real power is not just uncovering big scams. Its greatest success is in everyday governance.

Across villages and towns, ordinary citizens used RTI to expose fake pension beneficiaries, ghost workers in MNREGA, theft from the ration system and fake bills for roads that were never built.

RTI has also raised questions about growing NPAs in banks, deliberate loan defaults and complex schemes like electoral bonds. Information revealed by RTI about objections raised by the Reserve Bank of India and the Election Commission regarding the electoral bonds scheme led to wide public debate and eventually to Supreme Court involvement.

Still, some concerns are valid. A new debate about the RTI movement surfaced recently. In May, during a hearing, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant reportedly compared some people to “cockroaches,” suggesting that certain young people who cannot find jobs become media workers, social media activists or RTI activists and attack institutions.

The Chief Justice later clarified he did not mean the country’s youth or honest RTI activists. He said he was referring to people who enter professions with fake degrees or with malicious intent to defame institutions. He also said he is proud of India’s youth and called them the country’s future pillars.

Public commentator Prof Paras Nath Chaudhary asks, “Is RTI sometimes misused? Certainly, like any law, misuse is possible. But the limited misuse of a right should not overshadow its wider social importance.”

Social activist Mukta Gupta says, “The truth is, RTI activists have asked questions that power and institutions often want to ignore. From the Adarsh scam to Vyapam, from ration scams to MNREGA fraud, many disclosures were possible because citizens risked asking for information.”

Sociologist TP Srivastava stresses, “In a democracy, asking questions is not an attack but the first requirement of accountability. Institutions are weakened not by criticism but by secrecy. The purpose of RTI is not to create conflict but to build trust. Public trust is strongest where information is not locked away but is a citizen’s right.”

Many RTI activists have paid with their lives just for asking questions. Vacant posts in information commissions, rising backlogs and changes to the law have raised concerns about its effectiveness.

Democracy weakens when citizens are afraid to ask questions and governments avoid answering. RTI’s real strength is not in law books but in its use. A right that is not used slowly weakens. Every RTI application keeps democracy alive. Every disclosure strengthens accountability. Every answer reminds us that public institutions are servants of the people, not their owners.

The Right to Information Act is often called a sunshine law. That phrase fits perfectly. Corruption thrives in darkness; transparency brings light.