Deccan Herald: New Delhi:
Sunday, June 09, 2013.
Civil society
organisation Transparency International has urged the Election Commission to
implement the latest ruling by the Central Information Commission (CIC)
bringing all political parties under the ambit of the Right to Information
(RTI) Act.
The
organisation, a strong votary of adopting transparency measures, said the CIC’s
order should be extended so as to include all regional parties.
In a
significant decision “likely to usher in an era of transparency in their
functioning”, the CIC on June 3 brought political parties under the ambit of
RTI, recognising the need to open them up for public scrutiny given financial
benefits, such as allocation of large portion of land at throw away prices, and
tax exemption received by them.
“There should
be transparency in the functioning of all political parties. Every political
party should be open to scrutiny under the RTI. We expect the EC to take steps
to enforce the ruling,” Ashutosh Kumar Mishra, director, Transparency
International, said.
The
commission had directed national parties, including the Congress and Bharatiya
Janata Party, to appoint a public information officer and start disclosing
information within four weeks.
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