Activists oppose govt's move to exempt political parties from RTI

NEW DELHI: Activists working to promote Right to Information ( RTI) Act today opposed the government's move to keep political parties out of the ambit of the transparency law.

A protest is being planned on August 6 by RTI activists at Jantar Mantar here to express their unhappiness over the government's decision and to urge the Centre to take back its decision to ensure transparency in the working of the parties.

"We are against the government's decision to amend the RTI Act. We oppose it. A protest has been planned where activists and people from across the country will gather to register their protest," Coordinator (access to information programme), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Venkatesh Nayak said.

The Union Cabinet had yesterday cleared a proposal to amend the RTI Act in order to give immunity to political parties.

Nayak said RTI Activists will also hold protest in their respective states to oppose the Centre's decision.

The protest is being planned by non-government organisations like CHRI and National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) among others.

RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal said the government took a short cut to circumvent the reasoned CIC decision instead of challenging the matter before a higher court.

"Union Cabinet's nod for short cut route of amending RTI Act for keeping political parties out of purview of the transparency law endorses the correctness of a well-drafted CIC verdict where no political party could find a flaw in the order to be challenged in the courts," he said.