‘PM must disclose details of his education’

The Hindu‎: Bhubaneswar: Saturday, May 07, 2016.

RTI activist Aruna Roy says the public has the right to verify such information.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi must come clean on his qualifications and make full disclosure about his educational background, said Aruna Roy, the prominent Right To Information Act activist, here on Friday.

“Most politicians and bureaucrats are afraid of disclosing information. The Prime Minister is required to furnish his educational qualifications in an affidavit with honesty during filing nomination. If he says the information filed by him is true, we have the right to verify it,” said Ms. Roy.

“If Delhi University is not ready to share information about PM’s qualification, then the struggle will be taken forward to know the truth. How can Delhi University deny supplying information? The university will have to give the detail to the people,” she said on the sidelines of inauguration of a two-day-long RTI Convention here.

“You have to understand one thing, the way politics has gained prominence in all universities, they want to close in on students. Be it JNU, Delhi University, Aligarh University, Allahabad University or Hyderabad Central University, what are they doing? They are spoiling life of our students.”

Role of RTI

“Under these circumstances, the role of RTI Act is very critical here. People have to make their voice stronger. The Prime Minister, who champions Digital India campaign, should make every information public,” she said.

It needs to be mentioned that the Central Information Commission (CIC) had on April 29 directed the universities of Delhi and Gujarat to respond to the RTI applications regarding the Prime Minister’s qualifications.

Subsequently, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had written to DU Vice-Chancellor to disclose information about BA degree reportedly obtained by Mr. Modi. The AAP leaders had been alleging that information about PM’s degree was false.

Speaking on the RTI Act implementation across the country, Ms. Roy said: “The challenges have grown. Every year, 60 lakh to 80 lakh RTI applications are being filed. There is consistent attempt to deny information on part of every government. We have to challenge them unitedly.”

“It had already been mentioned in the Rajya Sabha that there is need to limit RTI sphere. The Act is an irritant to governance. We have to strengthen our campaign so that the efforts to weaken the revolutionary Act could be defeated,” she pointed out.