HIGH ALERT : RTI ACT Being Ammended : Through Backdoor
Is government backing out from its
commitment given to the Parliament ?
02 February 2012
Dear All,
In his post of 01 February 2012 (below) Venkatesh ji has very well
narrated how the Government is bringing Amendment to RTI Act, 2005 through
backdoor.
(Request to Moderators of Groups: While posting this ... Please do retain Venkatesh ji post and
Attachments below.)
My Take:
Is government backing out from its
commitment given to the Parliament ?
On 26 August 2010, the than Minister of
State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri
Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha had committed
to the Parliament that the “Amendments (in RTI Act), if any, will be
made after consultation with stakeholders."
Hon’ble Minister’s statement in Parliament
can be read on PIB Link:
For ease of reference, I am reproducing
the amendments proposed to RTI Act in "The Nuclear Safety Regulatory
Authority Bill” (NSRA Bill).
AMENDMENTS TO THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION
ACT, 2005 (PROPOSED IN NSRA Bill)
Quote :
"1. In section 8, in sub-section (1),
after clause (c), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—
“(ca) information referred to in clause
(c) of sub-section (2) of section 20 of the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority
Act, 2011”.
2. In the Second Schedule, after item
7, the following item shall be inserted, namely:— “7A. The Regulatory Bodies
established under sub-section (2) of section 25 of the Nuclear Safety
Regulatory Authority Act, 2011.”
Unquote
--------------
The information referred to
in clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 20 of the NSRA Bill reads :
Quote :
"20. (2) Without prejudice to the
generality of foregoing provisions, and the measures referred to in sub-section
(1), the Authority shall —
(a) xxxxxxxxx ;
(b) xxxxxxxxx ;
(c) ensure transparency by systematic
public outreach on matters relating to nuclear safety without disclosing
sensitive information and compromising confidentiality of commercially
sensitive information of technology holders.
Explanation.—For the purpose of this
clause, the expression “sensitive information” means information pertaining to—
(i) physical security of nuclear
material and facilities, or
(ii) reprocessing of spent fuel,
enrichment of fissile material or heavy water production technologies;
(iii) any information under section 26
which has been accessed by the Authority or has come to its knowledge or made
available to it in the discharge of its functions;"
Unquote
You would notice that there is NO NEED
for these amendments as the Section-8 of the RTI Act as it exist, provides all
the safe-guards.
LET US ALL OPPOSE THESE AMENDMENTS.
Kindly go ahead and read Venkatesh ji
post below which has analysed the entire issue in details.
Best,
{Commodore Lokesh Batra (Retd.)
Social & RTI Activist
BringChangeNow
-------------------------------
On Feb 01, 2012, Shri Venkatesh Nayak Wrote:
Dear all,
Even as we tirelessly
debated and agitated over the Lokpal Bill and related issues such as grievance
redress, whistleblower protection and judicial standards and accountability in
2011, the Government of India very quietly introduced amendements to the Right
to Information Act, 2005.
The Government introduced The
Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill (NSRA Bill) in the Lok Sabha in September
2011. This Bill seeks to add a new exemption to Section 8(1) of the RTI Act
about nuclear safety matters and recommends the exclusion of an unspecified
number of yet-to-be-established nuclear safety agencies from transparency
obligations by placing them in Schedule 2 of the RTI Act.
Thanks to information
received from friends at PRS-India a couple of weeks ago I woke up to the
existence of this Bill.
What is the NSRA Bill all
about?
The Minister of State for
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions introduced this Bill (attached) in
the Lok Sabha in September 2011. The same Minister is responsible for the
administration of the RTI Act also.
This Bill is also available
at:
The Bill seeks to establish
a legal framework for strengthening radiation and nuclear safety in India. For
more details please see the second attachment.
What amendments to the RTI
Act have been proposed?
The NSRA Bill introduces
two amendments to the RTI Act under Sections 8 and 24. For more details
please see the second attachment.
What are the implications
of these proposed amendments?
The proposed amendment to
Section 8(1) of the RTI Act is superfluous. The formulation of the proposed
exemption also poses problems. The Bill seeks to exclude organisations
concerned with nuclear safety that have not yet been established. Such
organisations clearly do not fall within the categories of intelligence and
security organisations mentioned in Section 24 of the RTI Act. For more details please see
the second attachment.
What is the current status
of the Bill?
The Bill was referred to
the Department-related Standing Committee on Science and Technology,
Environment and Forests soon after tabling. The Committee invited comments on
the Bill in September itself. The press release issued by the Committee's
secretariat is accessible at: http://164.100.47.5/webcom/MainPage.aspx Friends
at PRS-India say that the Committee has completed its hearings in January 2012
and is working on its report. So the report may be finalised any day before the
budget session starts.
What can we do to prevent
negative amendments to the RTI Act?
There is an urgent need for
the entire RTI movement in India to write to the Chairperson and Members of the
Parliamentary Standing Committee to reject the amendments proposed to the RTI
Act. The list of committee members is given in the second attachment.
Please use the following para to send an email to the Parliamentary Standing
Committee:
"We
the people of India who have been actively using RTI to promote transparency and
accountability in government are distressed to learn that the Government of
India has proposed amendments to the Right to Information Act, 2005 through The
Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill, 2011. This Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha
in September 2011 and has since been referred to your committee. These
amendments are unnecessary in view of the adequate protection for all legitimate
interests provided under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act. The exclusion of special
nuclear regulatory authorities referred to in Clause 25 even before they are
established by the Government is a clear instance of misuse of Section 24 of the
RTI Act. Such bodies by their very nature, purpose and functions cannot be
categorised as intelligence and security organisations. We urge you to recommend
deletion of all clauses that seek to amend the RTI Act.
No Amendments Through the Backdoor : Save Our RTI
Act"
The
Chairperson
Department
Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Science,
Technology, Environment and Forests
Rajya Sabha
Secretariat,
Room No.
005, Ground Floor,
Parliament
House Annexe,
New
Delhi-110001.
Tel.:
011-23034597 Fax: 011-23015585
No Amendments Through the Backdoor : Save Our RTI Act
Sincerely,
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