Sunday, July 15, 2018

Centre move to amend RTI Act to face protests

DNA: New Delhi: Sunday, July 15, 2018.
A number of civil rights organisations have decided to hold protests across 15 states against Modi government's decision to amend the RTI Act in the monsoon session of Parliament without making the amendments public.
The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018 is listed in the legislative business of Parliament for the government to take up during the monsoon session.
"It is a matter of grave concern that the government has refused to make public the contents of the amendment bill. This manner of secrecy and lack of any public consultation is a violation of the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy and undermines basic democratic principles," National Campaign for People's' Right to Information (NCPRI) said.
In fact, the details of the proposed amendment have also been denied in response to RTI applications, the organisation said. It is seeking support from all political parties on the issue.
The NCPRI will hold nationwide protests on July 18, the first day of the monsoon session, in collaboration with National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), Anti-Corruption Team (ACT), National Right to Food Campaign, the National Federation of Indian Women and state level RTI campaigns.
The NCPRI had apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a letter on May 25, 2018 about government's plan to amend the RTI Act without making the proposed changes public or seeking any comments or suggestions from people on these changes.
"This manner of legislating important laws undermines people's democratic right to know and participate in the legislative process and prevents public scrutiny of the provisions of a proposed bill," said the letter.
The letter also brought to the notice of the PM that in 2014, a Pre-legislative Consultation Policy was adopted by the government which mandates that all draft legislations (including subordinate legislation) be placed in the public domain for 30 days for inviting comments and their summary be made available on the concerned ministry's website prior to being sent for Cabinet approval.
Other Demands
Besides opposing amendments to the RTI Act, protestors will also seek operationalisation of the Whistleblowers Protection Act and the Lokpal law, and repeal of electoral bonds.