News Click: New Delhi: Tuesday, July 17, 2018.
Among the
bills listed under the ‘Legislative Business’ to be carried out during the
monsoon session of Lok Sabha,which will be held from July 18 to August 10, is
‘The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018’. Although included in the
‘New Bills’ category, the contents of the bill haven’t been made public. Such
secrecy regarding parliamentary functioning has distressed civil society
activists, at large, and Right to Information (RTI) activists in particular.
From amongst the foremost RTI campaigns and groups, the National Campaign for
Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) has issued a press release on July 14
which states: “It is a matter of grave concern that the government has refused
to make public the contents of the amendment bill. This manner of secrecy and
lack of any public consultation is a violation of the Pre-Legislative
Consultation Policy and undermines basic democratic principles.”
In a letter
to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018, NCPRI had stated that the
Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy, adopted by the government in 2014,
“mandates that all draft legislations (including subordinate legislation) be
placed in the public domain for 30 days for inviting public comments and a
summary of comments be made available on the concerned ministry’s website prior
to being sent for Cabinet approval.”
The press
release postulates that, based on media reports, the proposed amendments will
“fundamentally weaken the institution of the information commissions by
allowing the central and state governments to decide salaries of
commissioners”.
According to
the letter to the PM, “The RTI law currently pegs the salaries, allowances and
other terms of service of the chief of all information commissions and the
information commissioners of the Central Information Commissions at the level
of a judge of the Supreme Court, while those of the state information
commissioners are pegged at the level of the Chief Secretary of the state.”
NCPRI, along
with the National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), Anti-Corruption Team
(ACT), the National Right to Food Campaign, the National Federation of Indian
Women (NFIW) and state level RTI campaigns will hold protests across the
country. The Press Release states the plan of action of the protests as
follows:
“On the 18th
of July 2018, a rally and Jan Manch is being held in Delhi to:
- Oppose amendments to the RTI Act
- Demand immediate operationalization of the Whistleblowers Protection Act and the Lokpal law
- Oppose electoral bonds
The Jan Manch
will be held on the 18th of July, 2018 at the Speaker’s Hall, Constitution
Club, New Delhi from 1:30 pm to 4 pm. Representatives of all political parties
will be invited to the Jan Manch to put forth their respective party positions
on these issues.”
The protests
will address the issues mentioned above, force the government to hear the
genuine grievances of the public regarding more transparency in the
government’s functioning, tackling corruption in all aspects of governance, and
also demand for the protection of RTI activists and whistle-blowers who have
recently come under various attacks, a lot of whom have had to lose their
lives.
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