The Right to Information Act is doing fine and does not need any amendments: that was the message from civil society groups to the government at a meeting in the capital on Wednesday.
RTI activists from across the country were in Delhi to hold consultations with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal department for the law, to formulate a strategy towards better implementation of the Act.
But given the speculation that the government is planning to dilute the transparency law, the activists expressed resentment to any kind of amendments to the RTI and gave their suggestions on how to strengthen the Act.
Majority of them said the Act in its present form should be implemented in full spirit and the government should make sure that the public information officers in all the departments were properly trained to handle RTI applications.
Other recommendations include penalty provision for those government departments which do not comply with the orders of the information commissions and action on those government officials who were found to be incapable in releasing information under the Act.
“We told them in clear words that what was required was proper implementation of the Act,” said Bimal Kumar Khemani of the Lucknow-based NGO Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat.
Earlier this month, there were reports that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying that the Act should not be amended without consulting the stakeholders. The prime minister, according to the reports, favors certain
amendments to the Act, whereas the NGO have been opposed to any "dilution" in it.
This was the first time the government had invited the civil society for consultations on the implementation of the Act.
“It is good that at least they gave us a platform to express our concerns. There was lot of disbelief on the part of civil society for the government. Such meetings would help in dismantling this disbelief,” said Srima Roy, an Orissa-based RTI activist, who attended the meeting.
Hemant Goswami, an RTI activist from Chandigarh, said: “DoPT representatives told us that the meeting was in no way connected to the government’s 'plans to dilute the Act'. The only purpose was to take note of the views of those who were working for the Act.
“I hope they are being honest when they say this,” he added.