UP curtails RTI Act scope; opposition, NGOs protest

They have also urged the UP governor to direct the government to withdraw the notification issued in this regard forthwith.

The UP government had on Sunday said that it had decided to exclude information regarding appointments of Governor, ministers, judges, code of conduct of ministers and monthly report sent to the President by the Governor from the ambit of the RTI Act.

A government spokesman had justified the decision on the ground that these information were not directly related to the public. According to sources, the government had earlier decided to exclude as many as 14 subjects from the ambit of the RTI Act but, later on, reduced them to five, fearing opposition.

The opposition parties and the RTI activists criticised the decision, saying that it was ‘unconstitutional' and urged the state governor T V Rajeswar to restore the original scope of the RTI Act. Delegations of the state congress leaders led by the UP congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi and RTI activists including the Magasaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey, on Monday, met the governor and sought his intervention.