The Indian Express: Lucknow: Tuesday,
July 12, 2016.
TERMING AS
“disquieting” the reports of attacks and assaults on the Right to Information
(RTI) activists, Vice-President Hamid Ansari Monday said a strong message needs
to be sent out by awarding “exemplary punishment” to the perpetrators.
“The person
demanding information under the RTI Act should be emboldened and secure. Of
late, there have been reports of attacks and assaults on information seekers.
This is disquieting and needs to be taken seriously and prevented,” Ansari
said.
He said that
even if the number of such reported cases was small, “this shows the
vulnerability” of information seekers. “Police authorities in states have to be
sensitive to this and take effective steps to prevent the occurrence of such
incidents. Exemplary punishment to the perpetrators would send a strong message
around,” he added.
Ansari was
addressing a function after dedicating the new building of Uttar Pradesh
information commission the RTI Bhavan to the public.
Ansari listed
intimidation and threats to information seekers, lack of adequate public
awareness, especially in rural areas and lack of proper system to manage and
disseminate information as constraints in effective implementation of the RTI
Act. “We also have to rid ourselves of the old mindset regarding secrecy of
government processes and transactions,” he added.
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