Dear All,
The latest decision of the Union Cabinet to withdraw amendments to the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) is welcome indeed. This matter had been hanging over people’s right to know like the proverbial sword of Damocles since August 2006. Many experts, activists, organisations, advocates and votaries of RTI have worked hard to turn around the Central Government’s thinking on the issue of file notings which formed the crux of the proposed amendments. A law that is put together by consulting with the people will be defended by the people themselves. The people have defended the law from rollback in this case. Everybody who lent a hand to push for this change of thinking deserves to be congratulated. The Government also deserves to be congratulated for changing its mind.
What about other amendments to the RTI Act which are pending in Parliament?
Is anybody celebrating this roll back with champagne? So far we have only heard of champagne bottles being uncorked when decisions containing conservative and restrictive interpretations of the RTI Act were handed down by Information Commissions and Courts. Nevertheless I would caution against celebration. One more amendment to the RTI Act is pending despite objections from civil society. Readers will recollect my email alerts about the amendments to the RTI Act proposed in the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill, 2011 (NSRA Bill is in the 2nd attachment)which is pending in Parliament. In order to access these email alerts please visit our website at:
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=34%3Aright-to-information&id=655%3Apossible-amendment-of-rti-act-2005-email-alerts&Itemid=84
The Central Government introduced the NSRA Bill in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) in September 2011. The text of the Bill is accessible at: http://164.100.47.5/newcommittee/press_release/bill/Committee%20on%20S%20and%20T,%20Env.%20and%20Forests/Nuclear%20Safety%2076%20of%202011.pdf
The NSRA Bill seeks to amend the RTI Act in the following manner:
Several RTI activists wrote to the Government not to amend the RTI Act through the backdoor. Eminent persons like Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court, Mr. Fali Nariman (3rd attachment) and the then Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission (CIC), Mr. Shailesh Gandhi (4th attachment) wrote to the Prime Minister opposing these amendments.
The department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science, Technology Environment and Forests did not even discuss the amendments proposed to the RTI Act despite civil society criticism. Two members of the Communist Parties raised this issue in their dissenting note attached to the Committee’s report submitted in March 2012.
A couple of weeks later on 28th March the Minister of State in charge of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) which is the nodal department for implementing the RTI Act, Mr. V Narayanasamy replied to the queries of two Lok Sabha MPs about amendments proposed to the RTI Act as follows:
“No proposal to amend the Right to Information Act is under the consideration of the Government” (the queries and the answer provided are accessible at this link: http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/psearch/QResult15.aspx?qref=118306 Earlier on 6th March the Standing Committee had submitted its report on the NSRA Bill (5th attachment) to the Hon’ble Speaker without raising any objections to the proposed amendments to the RTI Act despite submissions received from civil society to the contrary. So clearly while the DAE had already tabled amendments to the RTI Act in the Lok Sabha the DoPT was claiming on the floor of the same House that no amendments were under the consideration of the Government. The MPs who raised the queries can file a complaint for breach of privilege. Interestingly while one MP who raised the queries belongs to the Indian National Congress the other belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Last month the Minister of State publicly declared once at the valedictory session of the 7th Annual RTI Convention organised by the CIC and then again on a popular news channel that the Central Government is committed to implementing the RTI Act in its present form without any amendments. So what happens to the amendments proposed in the NSRA Bill which was tabled in the Lok Sabha by none other than the same Minister of State, Shri V Narayanasamy? (see last page of the 2nd attachment)
Cabinet Note on the NSRA Bill shows DoPT was not even consulted during the Inter-Ministerial consultations
In order to ascertain the views of the DoPT on the amendments proposed, I filed an RTI application with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) seeking a copy of the Cabinet Note attached to the Bill. They refused access all the way up to the CIC. After the CIC ordered disclosure of the Cabinet Note (6th attachment) the DAE provided the complete text of the Cabinet Note free of cost. Excerpts from the Cabinet Note are scanned and attached (1st attachment).
The Cabinet Note reveals that the Bill was never sent to the DoPT during the Inter-Ministerial consultations. The Ministry of Finance raised this issue in its comments (see page nos. 10, 11, 15 and 17 in the 1st attachment) and suggested that the NSRA Bill be referred to the DoPT also. The DAE took the view that DoPT may submit its comments during the Cabinet meeting held in August 2011. When I submitted an RTI application to the DoPT asking for its views on the NSRA Bill, they transferred my application to the DAE. I have not received DoPT’s comments from the DAE till date as they have washed off their hands after providing a copy of the Cabinet Note. More than a month ago I filed an RTI application with the Cabinet Secretariat asking for a copy of the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held in August 2011 to approve the NSRA Bill. I am still waiting for a reply hoping that the Minutes may reveal what the DoPT’s position is on the NSRA Bill.
The NSRA Bill may come up for approval during the ensuing winter Session of Parliament this month. The Government needs to clarify whether or not it will amend the RTI Act through the NSRA Bill. It is unfortunate that no MP has raised the issue of breach of privilege against the Minister of State for Personnel- on the one hand he has stated that the RTI Act will not be amended and on the other hand he has also tabled the NSRA Bill which seeks to amend the RTI Act in two places. The Central Government has a duty under Section 4(1)(c) of the RTI Act to clear up this confusion before it gets confounded. The people of India have the right to know the truth.
I request all readers to write to the Minister for Personnel asking for a clarification about the NSRA Bill as follows:
“Dear Mantriji,
Is the RTI Act being amended through the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill, 2011 or not?
Thanking you,
(Name, signature and address of the Citizen)”
Please send your query via postcard/email/fax to:
Shri V Narayanasamy
Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Government of India
Room # 102, North Block
New Delhi- 110 001
Email: mos-pp@nic.in
Fax: 011- 23092475
No Amendments Through the Backdoor : Save Our RTI Act
In order to access our previous email alerts on RTI and related issues please click on:
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=84 You will find the links at the top of this web page.
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Thanks
Sincerely,
Venkatesh Nayak
Programme Coordinator
Access to Information Programme
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
B-117, First Floor, Sarvodaya Enclave
New Delhi- 110 017
Tel: +91-11-43180215/ 43180201
Fax: +91-26864688
Skype: venkatesh.nayak@skype.com
Alternate Email: nayak.venkatesh@gmail.com
Website: www.humanrightsinitiative.org
Attachements