Times of India: Mumbai: Wednesday, December 06, 2017.
Despite the
existence of the landmark Right to Information (RTI) Act for more than a
decade, the BJP-led Devendra Fadnavis government on Tuesday set up a high-level
committee headed by additional chief secretary (home) Sudhir Shrivastava to
draft guidelines on information that may be provided to state legislators and
MPs.
A general
administration department (GAD) order said the three-member committee will
promulgate guidelines on whether a copy of file notings or confidential
information may be given to the elected representatives or not.
On July 27,
2015, the GAD had issued a comprehensive circular saying elected representatives
visiting government offices should be treated respectfully and responses to
their letters and applications should be as fast as possible. The circular gave
top priority to information sought by elected representatives.
Still, doubts
were raised on whether the entire information sought by representatives, such
as official notes and confidential documents, should be provided. "The
committee will look into all aspects and issue guidelines to all the
departments," a senior bureaucrat said.
Senior BJP
politician and former minister Eknath Khadse, who has successfully invoked the
RTI Act, questioned the need for such a committee, saying the the RTI Act was
quite comprehensive and clearly defined which information should be given and
which not. "If the committee decides whether information should be
provided or which kind of information can be provided, it defeats the basic
purpose of the landmark RTI Act," he said.
A veteran RTI
activist said that by setting up the committee Fadnavis was diluting the RTI
legislation.
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