Ahmedabad, Oct 12 (PTI) The Gujarat Congress on Sunday said the Right to Information Act enacted in the tenure of the Manmohan Singh government has been continuously weakened since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, thereby affecting transparency and the country’s democratic fabric.
In a statement issued on the 20th anniversary of the RTI Act, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda said the legislation’s main objective was to empower citizens by giving them access to information available with public authorities.
The Right to Information Act commenced fully on October 12, 2005.
“This Act had helped the poor to get entitlements like ration, pension, arrears of wages and scholarships. Since 2014, the Right to Information Act has been continuously weakened, which has affected the transparency and democratic fabric of the country. The 2019 amendments to the Act reduced the independence of the Information Commission and increased the influence of the executive,” he said in the statement.
Before the amendments, the term of office of the commissioners was fixed for five years and their terms of service were protected, Chavda pointed out.
“However, now the Central Government has been given the power to fix the term and terms of service, which has affected its independence. Furthermore, amendment to section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act through Digital Personal Data Protection Act to expand the scope of personal information means even information of public interest can be hidden, which goes against the original purpose of RTI,” he claimed.
This paves the way for denying disclosure of voter lists, expenditure accounts and other information related to public interest, directly impacting the process of public oversight, the process through which irregularities like misuse of MP Fund (MPLAD Fund), registration of false beneficiaries in MGNREGA and murky political funding were exposed, Chavda pointed out.
When citizens sought information through RTI on the expenses of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trips, the number of deaths due to lack of oxygen during COVID-19 or the use of the PM Cares Fund, no response was given, he said.
“The Central Information Commission is currently at its weakest. Only two out of 11 commissioners are working, while the post of Chief Commissioner is also vacant. The Central Information Commission alone has about 23,000 cases pending till November 2024,” the Congress leader said.
Many activists have been murdered and face threats, harassment and violence, due to which people are now afraid to use RTI, he claimed.
“The Whistleblowers Protection Act has not yet been implemented. The purpose of the law was to provide protection to people who expose corruption or irregularities, but due to the apathetic attitude of the government, that protection has remained empty words,” he said.
The bill was introduced by the UPA government and passed in both the houses of Parliament, but after the Modi government came to power in 2014, the law was not implemented, Chavda added.
He said the Congress wants restoration of the independence of the Information Commissions by repealing the 2019 amendments.
Moreover, commissioners must be given a fixed tenure of 5 years, section 44(3) of the Digital Data Protection must be reviewed, vacancies should be filled in a transparent and time-bound manner, and the Whistleblower Protection Act has to be implemented, he said in the statement. PTI KA PD BNM
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