As was expected the now Power intoxicated BJP is all out in its mission to weaken and dismantle the very democratic principles on which our great nation was founded.
The Right to Information Amendment Bill, 2019 introduced in Parliament is a very retrograde move with the sole aim to subvert the autonomy of Information commissions while diluting our nations’ potent and widely used weapon for transparency and accountability in the functioning of the government. The biggest achievement of the RTI legislation is it tells the most powerful people that they are not beyond the reach of a common man within a short and fixed time span rather than the needless and unending procrastination. The impact created through this legislation can be seen through some important landmark judgements as a result of uncovering many scams.
After decades of hectic lobbying, the efforts of civil society for getting the Right to Information law in place bore fruit on 15 June 2005 when the President of India gave assent to the Right to Information Act 2005. Over the years however the greater challenge has been the actual implementation of the Act. Unless the RTI Act is further strengthened Good Governance, Transparency in the Administration and Zero Tolerance to Corruption will never be a reality.
But instead of strengthening the RTI Act by attempting to allow the Executive to govern the functioning of the Information Commissions it will fundamentally weaken them and adversely impact their ability to function in an independent manner.
Is this retrograde step a cynical attempt by the powerful to make it more difficult for the common man to get to the truth and uncover any scams carried out by the very people entrusted to work honestly and transparently for the common good?
The 37th President of the United States of America Mr. Richard Nixon had in 1972 very rightly said “When information which properly belongs to the public is systematically withheld by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of their own affairs, distrustful of those who manage them, and – eventually – incapable of determining their own destinies”
