Times of India: Visakhapatnam: Tuesday,
May 24, 2016.
MLCs must
comply with the rules of the Right to Information Act and disclose their assets
as they are part of the state administrative machinery and funded by the
public, said RTI activist Kandregula Venkata Ramana.
Speaking at a
meeting of the Legislative Council Ethics Body here on Monday, Ramana pointed
out that Section 2 ( H) D (2) of the RTI Act states that members of the
legislative council should disclose their personal data and open their wealth
statements for public consumption as they benefit both directly and indirectly
from public funds. He said noted it was high time MLCs make themselves open to
scrutiny.
He further
added that for a bicameral legislature to function properly, the legislative
council must be treated as a responsible body and the members should be treated
as representatives of the public, instead of being accorded the status of
nominated members of the legislature.
"This
will ensure that they conduct business in the house in a more responsible
manner and also thereby allow themselves to criticism both positive and
negative," Ramana said.