Say no to any amendments in the RTI Act – a call for full and
effective implementation
Jantar Mantar – New Delhi 10 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
We appeal to you as citizens of India and users of the RTI Act to
gather at Jantar Mantar on 14th November from 10 am onwards to protest
the government move to the amend the RTI Act. Please join NCPRI and
other citizens and people's organization for a day long protest. We
will be signing petitions to the PM, Chairperson of the UPA and
appealing to other political parties to not amend the RTI Act. We will
also ask for appointments to meet the Minister, and Secretary DoPT to
submit our memorandum against any amendments, and to ask the
government what its specific intentions are on this issue.
In a letter (dated 20th October 2009) addressed to the Prime minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh, eminent citizens from all walks of life have urged
the government to abandon this ill advised move to amend the RTI Act.
Instead, a request has been made to initiate a public debate of the
problems that it might be facing in the implementing of the RTI Act
and take on board the findings of the two national studies that have
recently been completed. It is only through such a public debate that
a lasting and credible way can be found to strengthen the RTI regime.
Amendments RTI Act 2005
The RTI Act has just completed 4 years. In these four years, the Act
has been used extensively by citizens to put out information related
to public policy, human rights issues and systemic inefficiencies in
the public domain. Yet, the Government of India is proposing new
amendments to the RTI Act. These amendments are not to strengthen the
law or improve its implementation. On the contrary, and despite
repeated assurances from the Minister, DoPT and the government of
India, the proposed amendments, if introduced, will emasculate the RTI
Act.
What is being proposed?
Amongst other proposed amendments that have been put forth, are the
following extremely objectionable propositions:
1. Introducing an exemption for so called "vexatious and frivolous"
applications;
2. Excluding from the purview of the RTI Act access to "file notings"
and the decision making process, this time by excluding
"discussion/consultations that take place before arriving at a
decision".
Current scenario: Use of RTI
Two current nation-wide studies, one done under the aegis of the
Government of India and the other by people's organizations (RaaG and
NCPRI), have both concluded, that the main constraints faced by the
government in providing information is inadequate implementation, the
lack of training of staff, and poor record management. They have also
identified lack of awareness, along with harassment of the applicant,
as two of the major constraints that prevent citizen from exercising
their right to information. Neither of these studies, despite
interviewing thousands of PIOs and officials, has concluded that the
occurrence of frivolous or vexatious applications is frequent enough
to pose either a threat to the government or to the RTI regime in
general. Certainly no evidence has been forthcoming in either of these
studies that access to "file notings" or other elements of the
deliberative process, has posed a major problem for the nation. On the
contrary, many of the officers interviewed have candidly stated that
the opening up of the deliberative process has strengthened the hands
of the honest and sincere official.
We hope to see you at Jantar Mantar to join this important initiative
to protect this very crucial democratic entitlement for the people.
For more information contact: Ankita Anand: 9810382973; Suchi Pande: 9811333041
AISHWARYAJ4U
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