Intensifying their protest against the exclusion of the State Vigilance from RTI purview, RTI activists on Friday staged a dharna near the Raj Bhavan and sought the intervention of Governor SC Jamir for immediate withdrawal of the State Government notification in this regard.
A large number of RTI activists along with people from different walks of life decried the Government’s attempt to “promote” corruption by keeping out the Vigilance from the purview of the RTI Act -2005.
“The RTI Act which mandates transparency and accountability in the administration and empowering citizens to access the information held by the public authorities is facing bleak future in Odisha due to a nexus of corrupt bureaucracy and the Odisha Information Commission (OIC),” said Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan State convenor Pradip Pradhan.
He said that since last eleven years, the Naveen Patnaik Government has tried its best to dilute the RTI Act by adopting numerous illegal and fraudulent means like prescribing illegal and absurd RTI rules, making the on-line application system inoperative, illegal provision for submission of proof of citizenship for RTI applicants, dysfunction of proactive disclosure of information under Section 4(1b) by all the public authorities, illegally collecting fees for information from BPl people, appointing inefficient people as Information Commissioners, etc.
“The last one to destroy RTI in Odisha is to keep the Vigilance out of the purview of the RTI Act. It is a dangerous move to provide protection to corrupt people and keep the public in dark about activities of the State Vigilance,” said Pradhan.
later a delegation met the Governor and submitted a memorandum to him urging him to direct the Government to withdraw the August 11 notification.