Former comrades invoke RTI spirit

Times of India: New Delhi: Monday, 23 November 2015.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is now under fire from his former allies-RTI activists. As the AAP government prepares to table a draft legislation on amending the Delhi Timebound Service Delivery Act, 2011, and another bill on Jan Lokpal in the winter session, a letter to Kejriwal from his former comrades demands that bills be first put out in the public domain. Demanding transparency , the activists have reminded Kejriwal about AAP's electoral promise of "participatory governance" and "swaraj".

The letter (a copy of which is with TOI) is endorsed by Anjali Bhardwaj, Shailesh Gandhi, Aruna Roy, Prashant Bhushan, Nikhil Dey , Amrita Johri and Venkatesh Nayak, among others. Associated with the National Campaign For People's Right to Informa tion, the signatories have written the letter not under the banner of any organisation, but as "RTI activists".They have "urged the government to make public the text of the proposed legislations and also put in place a mechanism to invite public comments and suggestions on the provisions of the bills".

The letter was sent to Kejriwal on Saturday . When TOI contacted these activists on Sunday , they said they have not heard from the CM's office so far. The letter states "...while we welcome the mo ve of the Delhi government to bring these crucial legisla tions (Delhi Lokpal Bill and the Service Delivery Amend ment Bill) to the Delhi assem bly for consideration and pas sage... we are deeply concerned to note that the govern ment has not made public the text of either of these two bills. The non-availability of the proposed legislations in the public domain has preven ted meaningful debate on the detailed provisions. Further, there have been no public consultations, wherein commentssuggestions of the people of Delhi who are going to be deeply impacted by the passage of these legislations, have been sought."

It adds: "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 proposed bills. We had hoped that given Aam Adami Party's electoral promises of participatory governance and Swaraj, the AAP government will provide substantive opportunities for peoples' participation in drafting legislations."

The letter concludes: "The Lokpal Bill and the Service Delivery Amendment Bill are critical to provide a comprehensive legislative framework in Delhi to tackle corruption and redress grievances of people. We strongly urge you to put the text of these bills in the public domain. We hope your government will adopt a proper participatory process and invite public comments and suggestions on the proposed legislations."

While there was no reaction from Arvind Kejriwal or his office, top sources said the bills will be tabled in current session and, after that, they will be in the public domain for all to see.