The Union Minister of Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley said that the bureaucrats are free to render their advice/opinion during the process of decision making. He said that however, the Right to Information (RTI) Act can to some extent create hindrance in this regard and the civil servants may not feel free to do so apprehending that the later the same may become public. That’s why, the Finance Minister said that even Shri B.G.Verghese had stated that the opinion/advice given by public servants in the course of decision making should not be made public. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was speaking after releasing a book entitled “I@S – TALE TOLD BY AN IASs” written by Shri Omesh Saigal, a retired Officer of the Indian Administrative Service (1964 Batch) at a function here in North Block in the national capital today.

Earlier speaking on the occasion, Shri Tejinder Khanna, former civil servant and Lt. Governor of Delhi said that the bureaucrats should be allowed to give their opinion in a free and fair manner so that the good suggestions are not left –out in the process of decision making.

Shri Omesh Saigal, the author of the book said that in his book, he has shared his different experiences in the course of his service and how the service like IAS has evolved over a period of time.

Large number of senior serving and retired civil servants were present on the occasion.

Confidentiality of internal advice may be needed as RTI can deter candid bureaucratic opinions during policymaking. Bureaucrats are free to render candid advice during policymaking, but information disclosure mechanisms can inhibit frank internal communication by creating apprehension that opinions provided in the course of decision making will become public; this chill may exclude valuable suggestions, calling for a balance between transparency obligations and protections for internal deliberative communications.