DNA: Mumbai: Monday, May 02, 2016.
Activists in
the state have slammed the leaders who have criticised the Right To Information
(RTI) Act, which led to the unearthing of a series of scams, including the
Adarsh housing scam. Reportedly, Sawajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal had said
that the transparency law was passed under "the US pressure".
Protesting
the statement, former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said,
"I am surprised that no one in the Parliament objected to Naresh Agarwal
when he said that the RTI Act was passed under the US pressure. It was
derogatory to the Parliament and a privilege motion should have been moved
against him."
Besides
Agarwal, Praful Patel of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was
instrumental in passing of the landmark Act, also criticised it. From Congress,
which has often called it its flagship Act, Rajiv Shukla has slammed the
provision. Patel was reported to have said that any panwadi or chaiwalla was
misusing the Act.
RTI activist
Bhaskar Prabhu, however, said, "The Act was passed through people's
movement. Any person talking against it is talking against the people of
India."
Echoing the
sentiment, Gandhi said, "The only people who are getting intimidated are
citizens from the government machinery. When the government says that the
officers are intimidated, they should give some proof. The truth is that a lot
of RTI activists are being threatened or murdered. Let them come out with such
truth about the government officers. They want to muzzle RTI because it is
exposing them."
Activists
also said that people had to resort to filing RTI applications because the
government was failing to provide suo motu details. "They talk of
blackmailers. Who gets blackmailed?" questioned Gandhi. "In any case,
misdeeds of powerful people need to be known. What is wrong if a chaiwalla or a
panwadi is unearthing them?" he rued.
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