New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday announced new initiatives including setting up rapid legal response teams at state and district levels and raising its voice for reclaiming the original RTI Act as part of efforts to encourage the involvement of youths with the party.
Unveiling four such programmes, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken and senior spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said that young minds, through such initiatives, would help provide legal aid at the grassroots level whenever required and strengthen the party’s voice to save democracy in the country.
Singhvi said the AICC Law, Human Rights and RTI Department’s new initiatives will further engagement with young lawyers to revitalise formerly existing legal networks and to platform the voices speaking out against the dilution of the landmark Right to Information Act which, he alleged, is being “chipped away, piece by piece, by this regime”.
The first such initiative is a Congress legal fellows programme for helping bring into the party mainstream young lawyers by giving them a key role in the law-making process, he said.
This three-month fellowship, Singhvi said, the details of which shall follow on the AICC social media pages, shall select 10 young lawyers to assist parliamentarians in their day-to-day work. He said the idea is to allow an opportunity to the next generation of Congress members to get a chance to understand the opposition’s role in Parliament.
He said the Department will start a podcast series: ‘Nyaya Neta aur Nagrik’, designed to provide a platform to not just legal luminaries and senior advocates but also to young and budding advocates to sit down and put across their views on various societal and legal issues that surround us.
“In an era where dissent is often dismissed, ‘Nyaya Neta aur Nagrik’ seeks to restore reasoned constitutional dialogue — placing law and citizens at the centre of governance, something which can be seen to be diminishing at the hands of the ruling regime.
“The podcast series shall be launched for a minimum of 10 episodes, and I have had the privilege of being featured in the inaugural episode as the Chairman of the AICC Law Department, which will be released very soon in the near future,” Singhvisaid.
Besides, the party would start a rapid response force which would provide legal aid to the party and its leaders at the grassroots level.
Noting that this is a project close to his heart, Singhvi said, “We are preparing a database of lawyers with one sole guiding mantra: 5 lawyers in every district should be available to provide legal support to any leader of the party who needs.” By way of deliberate design, he said, this programme seeks to particularly lend active legal support to local leaders present at the ground level who are susceptible to threats and intimidation.
“To this end, we are now preparing a digital directory of the names already received from various states, and shall be entrusting responsibilities to members of the Rapid Response Force accordingly,” he noted.
To “reclaim” the Right to Information Act (RTI), which has been “weakened” by the present dispensation, the party would engage with young minds through a national conclave to help strengthen its voice in this regard, the Congress leader said.
The RTI Act, 2005, once regarded as a transformative instrument empowering citizens to hold public authorities accountable, has faced sustained dilution and administrative weakening over the years, he alleged.
“At a time when transparency in governance is more critical than ever, the party believes it is imperative to initiate a structured national conversation on restoring the Act’s original spirit and strength,” he said.
It will bring together leading voices from across the country, including former Information Commissioners, jurists, civil society leaders, RTI activists, journalists and policy experts.
The objective is to undertake a rigorous assessment of the present state of the RTI framework, identify institutional and legislative gaps and develop actionable recommendations to strengthen the law, the Congress leader said.
Singhvi said the conclave will culminate in the preparation of a comprehensive report outlining findings and recommendations. This report will be released to the public and shared widely with stakeholders, legislators, and citizens. PTI SKC SKC RT RT
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