New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI)
Chief Information Commissioner A N Tiwari today said RTI applicants who are facing threats to their lives should be provided adequate security. "Today state provides security to a number of people including those who don't deserve state security. "There is absolutely no reason why security should not be provided to those RTI activists who are under threat but this has to be done by the state governments," the Chief Information Commissioner said while replying to a question after first the foundation-day lecture of the Central Information Commission here. The lecture delivered by eminent psychologist and scholar Ashis Nandi dwelt upon the regime of secrecy in democracies and its increasing influence on the governance. After the lecture, one of the guests asked about the protection of whistleblowers in a democracy like India. Replying to it, Tiwari said the CIC may be most visible of Commissions but it is the state commissions which should throw their weight behind the issues of protection of the RTI activists who are facing such threats. Nearly 10 RTI activists across the country including Amit Jethwa of Gujarat, Satish Shetty of Pune, Vitthal Gite of Beed, Dattaraya Patil of Kolhapur have been killed allegedly for collecting information about corruption by heavyweights and mafia. Earlier during his lecture, Nandi with an underlined irony said as the country progresses, the demand of secrecy will also increase. He cited a number of examples across the globe to highlight the phenomenon of increasing secrecy in the societies like United States, Israel which are known as champions of freedom and liberty. Nandi said such phenomenon are "independent of any political establishment" be it democratic or despotic.
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