NEW DELHI, 20 August 2006 — Protests against the proposed amendment in the Right to Information Act (RTI) have succeeded partly as the government has decided not to pursue this during the current session of Parliament. As per the proposed amendment, the move would have kept out of public purview file notings in some areas.
Supporting RTI, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said earlier this week: “We have to work hard to eliminate corruption in delivering public services — in fact eliminate it from all walks of life…I sincerely hope that the Right to Information Act enacted by our government will empower our people who will be able to use their rights to make government more accountable.” Manmohan’s remarks, however, were questioned by experts who felt that the government’s decision to amend RTI would dilute its basic purpose as it would keep remarks made by officials on government files out of public purview.
Of late, opposition against the proposed amendment had gradually been gaining ground with protesters planning to launch a nationwide protest against it. Noted social activist Anna Hazare went on an indefinite fast from Aug. 9. Refusing to give in on verbal assurances, he said: “I have had bad experience in the past. Verbal assurances are not enough. I need written assurances that the amendment bill will not be brought in Parliament in the current session or in future. Then only I will withdraw my protest. Otherwise I will go ahead with the agitation.”
Hazare’s protest was supported by activists such as Shabana Azmi, Aruna Roy, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan and several organizations and parties. Criticizing the amendment, the activists said that it would make RTI ineffective. They pointed to proposed amendments also recommending taking away the independence of the Information Commissions. By making the decision-making process out of the reach of public scrutiny, the common man would have access only to Cabinet decisions and not to Cabinet notes.
Alarmed by the scale of protest building up against its move to amend RTI, the government has decided to backtrack on it. In view of apprehensions being voiced against the amendment and several representations submitted to the prime minister and Congress party President Sonia Gandhi, the former has decided not to introduce the amendment bill in the current session of the Parliament. This was announced yesterday by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri.
Left parties, the external supporters of the Congress-led coalition government also opposed the amendment. Asserting that it is not possible for any party to even consider such an amendment, this year’s Magsaysay Award winner Arvind Kejriwal said: “When people start using the RTI, they will be interested in this powerful tool. Once people understand the power of this tool, it will be politically suicidal for any party to even try to change it.”
The government has also been apparently compelled to go slow regarding moving amendments in RTI bill, as in its first report to the prime minister, the second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) headed by M. Veerappa Moily has pointed out that files and notings per se are not confidential and should be accessible to public unless exempted under Section 8 of the RTI.
