Daily Pioneer: Bhubaneswar: Tuesday, July 31, 2018.
RTI activists
and members of civil society organisations under the banner of the Soochana
Adhikar Milita Mancha, Ganjam and the Citizen of Ganjam on Monday urged Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the proposed amendment in the RTI Act
does not dilute the original law.
They took out
a rally in Brahmapur in response to nation-wide call given by NCPRI (National
Campaign for People’s Right to Information) to protest the proposed amendment
and submitted a memorandum for the PM, expressing concern that the amendment is
taken up without public consultation.
They said the
RTI Amendment Bill which has been presented in Rajya Sabha seeks to weaken the
RTI law by empowering the Centre and State Governments to decide salaries of
Information Commissioners through rules. The RTI Act currently states that the
salaries, allowances and other terms of service of the Chief of all Information
Commissions and the Information Commissioners of the Central Information
Commissions shall be the same as that of a Judge of the Supreme Court, while
those of the State Information Commissioners shall be the same as the Chief
Secretary of the State.
They further
said the status conferred on Commissioners under the RTI Act is to empower them
to carry out their functions autonomously and direct even the highest offices
to comply with the provisions of the law. However, empowering the Governments
to decide salaries would seriously undermine the independence of panel, they
lamented.
They urged
the PM to ensure that the text of the proposed RTI Amendment Bill must be
immediately put in the public domain for wide discussion and public debate
before being discussed in Parliament.
They also
urged the Central Government to constitute Lokpal at the earliest. Besides they
urged Modi to implement the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, given the rising
attacks on the activists exposing corruption.
.JPG)
.JPG)
