Times of India: New Delhi: Thursday,
October 20, 2016.
With the
recent murder of RTI activist Bhupendra Vira's, the death toll of those using
the transparency law to target corruption and malpractices has gone up to 56.
In fact, there has been more than 311 instances of harassment of citizens
including murder, attacks and intimidation from the time the law came into
force in 2005, according to an analysis by Delhi-based advocacy group CHRI.
Reports
indicate at least 51 murders and five suicides have taken place between October
2005 to 2016. Maharashtra tops this list with 10 alleged murders and at least
two suicides (12 deaths) followed by Gujarat with eight alleged murders and one
suicide (nine deaths) and Uttar Pradesh with six alleged murders and one
suicide (seven deaths).
In addition
there have been at least 130 instances of attacks or assaults including
attempts to murder RTI users during this period. The total number of persons
attacked or assaulted could be more because more than one person was attacked
in some incidents. Again Maharashtra tops this list with 29 incidents, followed
by Gujarat (15 incidents), Delhi (12 incidents), Karnataka (10 incidents),
Odisha and Uttar Pradesh (9 incidents each).
Meanwhile,
the whistleblowers protection law which was passed by Parliament in February
2014 has not been enacted till date. The BJP government had told Parliament
that it planned to amend the law.
"The
current status of the WBP Amendment Bill is not clear. On April 28, MoS to PMO
Jitendra Singh in Parliament said that the Whistle Blowers Protection Amendment
Bill had been sent to a committee. However, in response to an RTI application,
the Rajya Sabha secretariat has stated on August 16, 2016, that the bill is not
pending with any parliamentary committee,'' Anjali Bharadwaj of NCPRI said.
National
Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) has demanded an inqu iry in
to the murder of Vira. In a letter written to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis,
the NGO has asked for Vira's RTI applications and the replies placed in the
public domain. According to reports, he had filed several RTI applications and
was leading a campaign against the land mafia for unauthorised structures and
encroachments in and around Kalina, Mumbai.
"The
NCPRI strongly condemns the attack. We urge the Maharashtra government to
ensure a thorough investigation into the murder of Bhupendra Vira. The state
government must ensure that all the information sought by Mr. Vira is put in
the public domain and widely publicized, which would act as a deterrent against
such attacks in the future. Further, the state must look into the various cases
of wrongdoing exposed by him and take stringent action against the guilty,''
the letter said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
