Stringent law to protect whistle blowers needed: RTI activists

New Delhi: Advocating for a robust mechanism for the protection of whistle blowers, various people’s right bodies today demanded passing of Whistle Blowers Protection Bill 2011 in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament. National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), Delhi Grievance Redress Campaign and various other non-profit organisations came together in the capital today to voice their concerns regarding the rising threat to witnesses and RTI activists in the country. [caption id=“attachment_1262607” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] Chief Information Commissioner, Deepak Sandhu, heard the testimonies on the deaths of the whistle blowers and lauded the efforts of the activists to wage the battle against corruption. “People who are using the RTI Act to expose corruption are information warriors who work for larger public interest. We had passed a resolution in 2011 stating that if any person is attacked for seeking information, then the information being sought must be immediately provided on the website of the public authority,” Sandhu said. Commenting upon the recent incidents of the murder of RTI activists in Rajasthan and Bihar; Nikhil Dey, Co-convener, NCPRI emphasised how Right to Information was a potent tool to bring down the wall of secrecy and thus must be protected. “Right to Information act has changed our culture of secrecy to one of openness. Ordinary people in the remote corners of the country are filling RTIs and seeking information that matter to them. “Recent deaths of RTI activists shows how the ‘right to seek information’ is coming under the cloud of threat. We need to put an end to this vitiating environment that equates activism with death,” he said. Shambu Bishnoi was hacked to death for questioning NREGA and Public Distribution System at Jaisla village in Rajasthan. In a similar incident at Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, Ram Kumar Thakur was killed for questioning shoddy implementation of the Indira Awas Yojna, a government scheme providing housing for the rural poor, in his village. NCPRI, an organisation campaigning for Right to Information since its inception in 2005 called for a strong Lokpal and Grievance Redress Law. “We have documented the deaths of 37 RTI activists across the country since 2007, of these three were suicides. The figures show a stark reality and should come as a shame to the authority who failed to protect the lives of the torch bearers of our society,” Anjali Bhardwaj from NCPRI said. Venkatesh Naik, Member, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) pointed out the lapses in the current laws governing RTI. “One of the most glaring loopholes of the RTI act is the lack of a proper definition of ‘victimisation of complaint registration’ that makes the common man vulnerable to attacks,” he said. India has seen the death of many RTI activists across the length and breadth of the country. Shehla Masood, Sathish Shetty, Amit Jethwa are some of the well known RTI activists who were killed. PTI