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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | PM urged to reconsider changes in NSRA bill to safeguard RTI Act

PM urged to reconsider changes in NSRA bill to safeguard RTI Act

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published Published on Mar 29, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 29, 2012
-The Times of India
 
Terming exemptions to the RTI Act introduced through the proposed Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority (NSRA) bill as "regressive", information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi and legal luminary Fali Nariman have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reconsider the amendments in the interest of transparency.

Nariman said the amendments were "unnecessary" and against the letter and spirit of the Act. "I am distressed to hear that the government of India proposes amendments to the RTI Act - it is submitted that these amendments are unnecessary In view of the adequate protection for all legitimate interests provided for under section 8 of the RTI Act," he said.

The NSRA contains two proposals for amendments. The first amendment seeks to add a new exemption to section 8 of the RTI Act to cover sensitive information relating to nuclear and radiation safety issues and also commercially sensitive information of technology holders. Information commission Shailesh Gandhi said the existing provisions of Section 8 (1)(a) and Section 8(1)(d) provide adequate protection for the legitimate needs of information that need not be disclosed.

The second amendment seeks to insulate unspecified regulatory bodies that will oversee nuclear facilities established for strategic and national defence purposes. Gandhi argued that such agencies when created will automatically be part of Schedule 2 of the RTI Act that includes the agencies exempted from it.

He added that the NSRA bill makes disclosure of information about such bodies a punishable offence. "This clause will be used as a shield to prevent disclosure of information relating to even allegations of human rights violation and corruption in such bodies....In effect the NSRA bill seeks to vest enormous discretion in the hands of bodies that to withhold people's access to information. These provisions are a regression in the journey of our Parliament towards a participatory democracy. Whereas nuclear power and energy are important for the nation, transparency and democracy are certainly more important and must not be whittled down," he said.

Two members of the parliamentary standing committee have expressed apprehensions, besides reservations from a number of citizens and RTI activists.

The Times of India, 29 March, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PM-urged-to-reconsider-changes-in-NSRA-bill-to-safeguard-RTI-Act/articleshow/12448406.cms


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