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Efforts to dilute RTI must be resisted, says
Aruna Roy
Saturday October 15, 2011 08:17:22 PM,
IANS
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Panaji:
Right to Information (RTI) activist Aruna Roy Saturday took Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh head on Saturday, saying that efforts to
dilute the RTI Act by the "prime minister or anyone else" must be
resisted at all costs.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a lecture on good
governance here, Roy, who heads the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
(MKSS), said the silence of civil society over exclusion of the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the RTI was ominous and
did not bode well for transparency in the country's
administration.
"The RTI Act is strengthening the foundations of democracy in
India. Efforts made to dilute and weaken by the prime minister or
anybody else have to be resisted at any cost whether by writing
letters or carrying out dharnas or other means," said Roy. She is
also a member of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi-headed National
Advisory Council (NAC), set up to monitor the implementation of
the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's manifesto.
Manmohan Singh Friday called for a critical review of the RTI Act.
Speaking at the 6th Annual Convention of Information Commissioners
here, the prime minister said that the act had been effective, but
there were "concerns that it could discourage honest, well-meaning
public servants from giving full expression to their views".
In response to the prime minister's comments, Roy said: "The job
of the bureaucrat is to make notings on the file. He is paid to do
his job. If they don't do it, remove them."
"Some of us were quiet when the CBI was dropped from the RTI
ambit. That is not a good sign. We should keep protesting efforts
made to weaken the RTI," she said.
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