DNA:
Delhi: Wednesday, 25 March 2015.
The
organisation has cited delay in the appointment of the Chief Information
Commissioner (CIC), the dilution of the Lokpal Act and Whistle-blowers
Protection Act and the non-introduction of a legislative framework for
grievance redress.
Bringing
to light delays in several key departments of the Indian government, the
National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) has condemned their
responses to RTIs filed by them. The organisation has cited delay in the
appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), the dilution of the Lokpal
Act and Whistleblowers Protection Act and the non-introduction of a legislative
framework for grievance redress. Activist Aruna Roy, Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil
Dey and the Former CIC Wajahat Habibullah addressed a gathering in New Delhi on
Monday.
The
post of the CIC in the Central Information Commission has been lying vacant for
seven months since the 22nd of August 2014. In the absence of a Chief, appeals
and complaints related to critical public authorities like PMO, cabinet
Secretariat, Ministries of Defence, HRD, Steel and Power were not being heard
as these are allocated to the Chief’s bench. Today, more than 13,000 appeals
and complaints related to these public authorities are pending before the
Chief’s bench.
‘Minutes
of meetings have not been recorded in the file. Since minutes have not been
recorded in the file, undersigned is not aware as to who attended those
meetings,’ stated the response to the RTI filed by activists who tried to
access details of search committee constituted to shortlist names for the
appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner. “The delay in appointing the
Chief is deliberate,” said Aruna Roy.
Wajahat
Habibullah, the first CIC of India said that the RTI should also be seen as a
useful tool for governance. “The government needs the RTI for strengthening of
the bureaucratic structure. The Modi government needs to recognize the strength
of this law and use it as a tool to strengthen their governance, since it was
the Prime Minister who had said there should be minimum government and maximum
governance.”
“The
appointment process is completely opaque and in violation of the Supreme
Court’s orders to appoint Information Commissioners in a transparent manner,”
said Anjali Bhardwaj of the NCPRI adding, “The delay in appointment is a clear
attempt by the government to weaken the institution of the CIC.”
The
Whistleblower’s Protection Act was passed in February 2014. However, the
government has not operationalised the law till date. As per information
accessed under the RTI Act, the government has not operationalised the law as
it is considering amending it.
“The
families of whistleblowers had agitated for a long time for the passage of the
law and it was a complete breach of trust of all the promises made by the BJP
leaders stating that they will ensure a strong accountability regime,” said
Nikhil Dey.
All
efforts to understand the nature of amendments are being stonewalled by the
government as in response to RTI applications, the DoPT has stated, ‘the file
is still under submission of higher authorities for placing the matter before
Cabinet...You cannot inspect the said file as the same is already under
submission to higher authorities.’
Habibullah
said the text of the amendment must be placed in the public domain to enable
people to engage with it and send their representations to the government.
The
Lokpal Act was notified in the gazette in January 2014. An amendment was
required to ensure that in the absence of a recognised leader of opposition,
the leader of the single largest party in opposition is included in the
selection panel for appointing the Lokpal. Anjali Bhrdwaj said that instead of
urgently moving this limited amendment, the government had introduced a 14-page
amendment bill aimed at diluting critical provisions of the Lokpal Act-
including those related to disclosure of assets by public sevants. Aruna Roy
said that BJP leaders during the debate in Parliament had spoken at length
about the need for an empowered and independent Lokpal while they were in
opposition. However, their actions today are diametrically opposite to their
earlier statements.
In
2011, a legislation to provide a comprehensive framework for grievance redress
was introduced in Parliament. An all party standing committee gave its
recommendations on the bill. However, the bill lapsed with the dissolution of
the Lok Sabha in May 2014. Nikhil Dey said that if the government wanted to
ensure that entitlements reach people, the law must immediately be brought to
Parliament for passage.
On
the recent order of the CIC in which it disposed the complaint relating to
non-compliance of its order by political parties, Nikhil Dey said, “This order
would set a very bad precedent as any public authority which wanted to exempt
itself from the RTI Act could simply not appoint PIOs.” Anjali Bhardwaj said
that the Commission should recall its order and that they will approach the
courts if necessary.
The
NCPRI announced that it will be launching an agitation on these issues during
the next Parliament session which begins on 20 April.
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