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: 73
 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]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

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: 74
 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]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

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]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 17 July, 2018, https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&#039;,
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot; title=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Dark clouds over the RTI -Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nikhil Dey&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 17 July, 2018, https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&#039;,
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...&#039;
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It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot; title=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the..."/>
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                <strong>Dark clouds over the RTI -Aruna Roy &amp; Nikhil Dey</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation<br /></em><br />The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &ldquo;progressive&rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &ldquo;transparency&rdquo; in political party funding through &ldquo;secret&rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.<br /><br />Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.<br /><br />It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.<br /><br /><em>Undermining consultation<br /></em><br />It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&rdquo; of the government of India (<a href="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi" title="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi">https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi</a>).<br /><br />But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &ldquo;consideration&rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.<br /><br /><em>Blow to transparency<br /></em><br />The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.<br /><br /><em>Hampering acccountability<br /></em><br />The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div>               </font>
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot; title=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Dark clouds over the RTI -Aruna Roy &amp;amp; Nikhil Dey&#039;,
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-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...&#039;
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It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot; title=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the..."/>
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                <strong>Dark clouds over the RTI -Aruna Roy &amp; Nikhil Dey</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation<br /></em><br />The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &ldquo;progressive&rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &ldquo;transparency&rdquo; in political party funding through &ldquo;secret&rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.<br /><br />Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.<br /><br />It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.<br /><br /><em>Undermining consultation<br /></em><br />It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&rdquo; of the government of India (<a href="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi" title="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi">https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi</a>).<br /><br />But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &ldquo;consideration&rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.<br /><br /><em>Blow to transparency<br /></em><br />The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.<br /><br /><em>Hampering acccountability<br /></em><br />The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div>               </font>
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-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot; title=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. 
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &amp;mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &amp;mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &amp;ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &amp;mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&amp;rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &amp;ldquo;progressive&amp;rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &amp;ldquo;transparency&amp;rdquo; in political party funding through &amp;ldquo;secret&amp;rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Undermining consultation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &amp;ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&amp;rdquo; of the government of India (&lt;a href=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot; title=&quot;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&quot;&gt;https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &amp;ldquo;consideration&amp;rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Blow to transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &amp;ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&amp;rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hampering acccountability&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &amp;mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the..."/>
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                <strong>Dark clouds over the RTI -Aruna Roy &amp; Nikhil Dey</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation<br /></em><br />The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &ldquo;progressive&rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &ldquo;transparency&rdquo; in political party funding through &ldquo;secret&rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.<br /><br />Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.<br /><br />It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.<br /><br /><em>Undermining consultation<br /></em><br />It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&rdquo; of the government of India (<a href="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi" title="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi">https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi</a>).<br /><br />But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &ldquo;consideration&rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.<br /><br /><em>Blow to transparency<br /></em><br />The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.<br /><br /><em>Hampering acccountability<br /></em><br />The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div>               </font>
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-The Hindu<br />
<br />
<em>Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation<br />
</em><br />
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &ldquo;progressive&rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &ldquo;transparency&rdquo; in political party funding through &ldquo;secret&rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.<br />
<br />
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.<br />
<br />
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.<br />
<br />
<em>Undermining consultation<br />
</em><br />
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&rdquo; of the government of India (<a href="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi">https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi</a>).<br />
<br />
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &ldquo;consideration&rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.<br />
<br />
<em>Blow to transparency<br />
</em><br />
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.<br />
<br />
<em>Hampering acccountability<br />
</em><br />
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.<br />
<br />
Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more. 
</div>
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Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...',
	'disp' => '<div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation<br /></em><br />The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &ldquo;progressive&rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &ldquo;transparency&rdquo; in political party funding through &ldquo;secret&rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.<br /><br />Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.<br /><br />It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.<br /><br /><em>Undermining consultation<br /></em><br />It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&rdquo; of the government of India (<a href="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi" title="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi">https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi</a>).<br /><br />But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &ldquo;consideration&rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.<br /><br /><em>Blow to transparency<br /></em><br />The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.<br /><br /><em>Hampering acccountability<br /></em><br />The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div>',
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	'title' => 'Dark clouds over the RTI -Aruna Roy &amp; Nikhil Dey',
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-The Hindu<br />
<br />
<em>Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation<br />
</em><br />
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &ldquo;progressive&rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &ldquo;transparency&rdquo; in political party funding through &ldquo;secret&rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.<br />
<br />
Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.<br />
<br />
It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.<br />
<br />
<em>Undermining consultation<br />
</em><br />
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&rdquo; of the government of India (<a href="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi">https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi</a>).<br />
<br />
But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &ldquo;consideration&rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.<br />
<br />
<em>Blow to transparency<br />
</em><br />
The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.<br />
<br />
<em>Hampering acccountability<br />
</em><br />
The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.<br />
<br />
Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more. 
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>',
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-The Hindu

Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation<br /></em><br />The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record &mdash; that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law &mdash; has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: &ldquo;To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 &mdash; for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.&rdquo; The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be &ldquo;progressive&rdquo; as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about &ldquo;transparency&rdquo; in political party funding through &ldquo;secret&rdquo; electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat.<br /><br />Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will.<br /><br />It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation.<br /><br /><em>Undermining consultation<br /></em><br />It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the &ldquo;pre legislative consultation policy&rdquo; of the government of India (<a href="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi" title="https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi">https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi</a>).<br /><br />But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as &ldquo;consideration&rdquo; is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds.<br /><br /><em>Blow to transparency<br /></em><br />The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: &ldquo;It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.&rdquo; One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit.<br /><br /><em>Hampering acccountability<br /></em><br />The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised &mdash; at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/dark-clouds-over-the-rti/article24436554.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more. </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div>'
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Dark clouds over the RTI -Aruna Roy & Nikhil Dey

-The Hindu Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record — that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law — has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18). It says: “To amend The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 — for Introduction, Consideration, and Passing.” The government will most likely proclaim these proposed amendments to be “progressive” as it did with its inverted definition of bringing about “transparency” in political party funding through “secret” electoral bonds. For such a dispensation, the RTI is an obvious threat. Since 2005, the RTI Act has helped transform the relationship between the citizen and government, dismantle illegitimate concentrations of power, legitimise the demand for answers, and assist people in changing centuries of feudal and colonial relationships. But public servants, troubled by accountability, have seen this as interference. As a result, the RTI Act has been under constant threat of amendments. At least two major attempts to amend the Act have been met with such strong popular resistance that the government of the day has had to back off. This time, it seems as if the government has decided to avoid all norms of transparency and consultation in trying to impose its undemocratic will. It is a bitter irony that a little over a decade after the RTI Act was operationalised, proposed amendments have been kept secret; there has not even been a hint of public consultation. Undermining consultation It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. Any amendment to the law should have been discussed before it went to the cabinet, as in the “pre legislative consultation policy” of the government of India (https://bit.ly/2NVl4Gi). But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as “consideration” is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes. For some time now, major pieces of legislation, including those that affect the transparency regime, are being pushed through without being sent to multi-party standing committees. Worse still, in order to avoid facing the strength of the Opposition, there have been steps to steamroller legislative measures (in the garb of money Bills) that have destabilised access to information such as Aadhaar and electoral bonds. Blow to transparency The spirit of the RTI law lies in not just the filing of an RTI application and getting an answer. It actually mandates the replacement of a prevailing culture of secrecy with a culture of transparency. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, which has been poorly implemented, it says: “It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority... to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals... so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.” One can understand why there is an attempt to undermine the RTI Act in letter and spirit. Hampering acccountability The popular movement for accountability which swept across the country five years ago has also been successfully neutralised — at least for now. While the RTI Act allowed us to uncover fraud, it was difficult to ensure that the information could be used to hold a bureaucrat or elected representative accountable. The Lokpal debate, for example, highlighted grand corruption, but those who protested across India were personally fed up with the inefficiency of public servants and their impunity. Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court; in fact the government has tried to protect bureaucrats by amending the Lokpal Act in such a way that assets of family members of public servants do not have to be disclosed in the public domain. Please click here to read more.