7 months ago
2
The Congress connected Sunday accused the Narendra Modi authorities of systematically weakening the Right to Information (RTI) Act, saying the instrumentality was targeted due to the fact that it enabled citizens to fact-check the Prime Minister’s claims.
Marking the 20th day of the Act’s implementation, the enactment said that for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), RTI stands for “Right to Intimidate”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, successful a station connected societal media level X, said a chilling “no information available” doctrine present prevails, arsenic the authorities “brazenly” withholds accusation to flight accountability. “Since 2014, implicit 100 RTI activists person been murdered, unleashing a clime of panic that punishes truth-seekers and extinguishes dissent,” Mr. Kharge said.
Addressing a property league aboriginal successful the time to people the twentieth day of the law, enacted connected October 12, 2005 nether the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, the party’s wide caput successful complaint of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, “For the BJP, the RTI means Right to Intimidate.”
Mr. Ramesh listed 5 cardinal reasons why, according to him, the RTI has been systematically undermined. “The archetypal was the bid by the Chief Information Commissioner directing disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s MA grade successful ‘Entire Political Science’ nether RTI,” helium said.
The 2nd instance, helium added, was erstwhile RTI responses disproved the Prime Minister’s assertion that determination were “crores of fake ration cards” successful the country.
Mr. Ramesh said that RTI applications had besides exposed the government’s claims astir demonetisation curbing achromatic wealth oregon counterfeit currency. “The RTI exertion revealed that conscionable 4 hours anterior to the demonetisation announcement made by Prime Minister Modi, the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India had concluded that the demonetisation would not assistance successful curbing achromatic wealth oregon fake currency successful immoderate way,” helium said.
He added that RTI disclosures had caused the authorities “multiple embarrassments”, including revelations that the Reserve Bank of India had already sent to the Prime Minister’s Office a database of the 20 apical wilful indebtedness defaulters successful the country. “It was revealed done the RTI that nary achromatic wealth had travel backmost from overseas arsenic had been promised by Prime Minister Modi up of the 2014 General Elections,” Mr. Ramesh said.
Mr. Ramesh said the archetypal large stroke to the instrumentality came with the July 2019 amendment, which removed cardinal provisions that had been included based connected the recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee that had, among its members, erstwhile President Ram Nath Kovind, past a Rajya Sabha MP.
The Congress person said helium had challenged the 2019 amendments to the RTI Act successful the Supreme Court connected December 17, 2019, but regretted that the substance remained pending adjacent aft astir six years.
Mr. Ramesh besides warned that the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, if implemented successful its contiguous form, would beryllium to beryllium the “final decease knell” for the RTI. “Section 44(3) of the Act says that nary idiosyncratic accusation volition beryllium accessible nether the RTI,” helium said.
