Daily Pioneer: Bhubaneswar: Saturday,
September 24, 2016.
Civil society
and RTI activists on Friday held a rally here demanding withdrawal of the
notification issued by the State Government keeping Vigilance department out of
the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The State
Information and Public Relations Department had issued a notification on August
11saying, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section 4 of section 24
of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the State Government do hereby specify
that nothing, contained in the said Act, shall apply to the general
administration (Vigilance) department and its organisation.”
A large
number of activists first organised a rally near Ram Mandir Square and later
held a meeting in front of the State Assembly demanding immediate revocation of
the “arbitrary” notification.
“The
notification is against the spirit of the RTI Act. Despite our appeals to the
Chief Minister and the Governor to intervene in the matter, nothing has
happened as yet. Our agitation will be intensified if the Government fails to
withdraw the notification,” said Odisha Soochana Abhiyan convenor Pradip
Pradhan, who organised the rally.
The State
Government’s arbitrary decision has also been challenged in the Orissa High Court.
Civil society Global Human Rights Communication’s executive director Subash
Mohapatra has filed the petition in the High Court seeking quashing of the
notification.
According to
Section 24 (4) of the RTI Act, only intelligence and security organisations
will be outside the Act’s ambit.
The activists
later submitted a memorandum in this regard to the Chief Minister.
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