Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Cloak on RTI bill -Anita Joshua

Cloak on RTI bill -Anita Joshua

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jul 16, 2018   modified Modified on Jul 16, 2018
-The Telegraph

New Delhi: In the Lok Sabha bulletin for legislative business of the upcoming monsoon session, one bill stands out because it is the only one about which no details have been furnished.

The bill seeks to amend the Right to Information Act of 2005, and the ironical opaqueness has alarmed transparency advocates who have mounted a pushback.

As many as 18 bills are listed for introduction, consideration and passage in the monsoon session, scheduled to begin on July 18.

For 17 bills listed under the "E" category of new bills, some detail or the other of the "purport" has been provided or there have been consultations with the stakeholders as in the case of the changes in the GST law.

However, in the case of the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018, all that the "purport" column says about the draft legislation is "To amend the Right to Information Act, 2005".

This has upset not just transparency activists but also users of the RTI route as repeated efforts to get details of the amendments from the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions have been stonewalled.

Officials refused to part with information on the nature of the proposed changes, although the government's pre-legislative consultation policy, adopted in 2014, mandates that all draft legislation (including subordinate legislation) be placed in the public domain for 30 days for comments.

Also, a summary of comments has to be made available on the website of the ministry concerned before the bill is sent to the cabinet for approval.

Shailesh Gandhi, a former central information commissioner, questioned the move to amend the Act. "We have one of the best RTI Acts in the world. NOBODY should bring any changes in it. WE need better implementation. Focus on that," he tweeted amid fears that the government was trying to dilute the law.

The National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information has decided to mobilise opinion against the bill in collaboration with groups like the National Alliance of Peoples Movements, Anti-Corruption Team, National Right to Food Campaign, the National Federation of Indian Women and state-level RTI campaigns.

All parties and the Union minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions have been invited to a Jan Manch in the capital on Wednesday -- the first day of the monsoon session -- to clearly state their position on the RTI law and the anti-corruption legislative architecture.

An online petition to the Prime Minister, launched on Saturday, had drawn over 15,000 signatures in 24 hours. In the petition, RTI activists said: "You had promised the people of India a Bhrashtachar-mukt Bharat (corruption-free India). One of the most powerful ways to fight corruption in a democracy is to empower people with the right to information. It is therefore shocking and concerning that your government is proposing to bring regressive amendments to the RTI Act in a surreptitious manner."

Please click here to read more.


The Telegraph, 16 July, 2018, https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/cloak-on-rti-bill-245257#.W0v9B9_9MuE.twitter


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close