Oppn commit to fight against amendment in RTI Act

Leaders of different political parties today committed to fight any "attempt" by the Centre to "dilute" the Right To Information (RTI) Act and oppose any amendments to it.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechuri said the RTI Act came into existence from people's struggle and the party would work within Parliament and outside it to ensure that no amendment was made to it.

He was addressing a meeting organised by the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information(NCPRI).

Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda charged the BJP-led central government with "destroying" institutions and legislations of transparency and accountability in the country.

"The Congress will oppose any amendment to the RTI Act," he said.

The meeting was also addressed by CPI leader D Raja and Atul Kumar Anjan, RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha, Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi, who asserted that any move to "dilute" the RTI Act would be thwarted.

The political leaders also extended their support for immediate operationalisation of the whistleblowers protection act and the Lokpal law.

RTI activists and anti-corruption workers, relatives of those people who were killed while exposing corruption in different parts of the country, including Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, also attended the meeting.

A 'Ghotala Rath Yatra' was taken out from the Patel Chowk metro station by the activists of various organisations to highlight the alleged scams by the central government, the statement added.