Sarabjit:
Somethig is amiss here . Am reproducing the press release issued by NCPRI subsequent to the meeting in DoPT . It makes no mention of a call on the Secretary S Consul anywhere ? *PRESS RELEASE* A team of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) met with the Minister of State for Personnel, Shri PrthiviRaj Chavan, on 16 th November 2009 to discuss the proposed amendments to the RTI Act 2005. The team, led by Aruna Roy and Shekhar Singh, impressed upon the Minister that the need to have a public debate on the proposed amendments before any final decision was taken. The team also requested the Minister to put before the public any problems that the government might be having I implementing the RTI Act and give an opportunity to the people to suggest solutions that would not involve n amendment to the law. Specifically, the team discussed with the Minister the proposed exclusion of the deliberative process, including file notings and suggested to the Minister that the current exemptions in the RTI Act should be adequate to protect public interest. However, it invited the government to bring to public notice any aspects of the deliberative process which was not exempt and whose disclosure might harm public interest. The team also discussed the proposed exclusion of the so called "vexatious and frivilous" applications and indicated to the Minister that not only were these impossible to define in a way in which they would not be rampantly misused but that they were other more effective ways of ensuring that such applications did not adversely affect government functioning, including the more effective implementation of section 4 (proactive disclosure). The team also stressed the necessity to ensure that private bodies and NGOs receiving substantive funding from the government remained within the purview of the RTI Act. The Minister appreciated the points made by the NCPRI team and assured the members that the government would not take a final decision on the matter before consulting the people. To that end, he indicated that the government would prepare a position paper, which would remain public and would lead to public consultations. On another suggestion the Minister favourably reacted to the idea of setting up an RTI advisory council to provide a forum for on- going interaction between the government and the people. *For more information contact: Ankita Anand: 9810382973* National Campaign for People's Right to Information --- In [email protected], "sroy1947" <sroy1...@...> wrote: > > Dear Arun > > Am again repeating the links Suresh kindly forwarded > > http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article48769.ece?css=print > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Villagers-activists-up-in-\ \ > arms-over-proposed-RTI-changes-/articleshow/5231135.cms > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Public-debate-to-precede-amendments-to\ \ > -RTI--Chavan/542547 > > (you may have to join them) > > QUOTES: > "Later, a representative delegation of 7 members, led by Aruna Roy and Shekhar Singh, went to meet the DoPT secretary Shantanu Consul to discuss the current proposal regarding the amendments. The secretary confirmed that a set of amendments are under consideration, but before they are approved, the DoPT will follow a transparent and open consultative process. All further proposals for amending the law will be put up on the DoPT website and affected parties and stakeholders will be consulted before the government considers any amendments to the law. The secretary further assured the group that the minutes of the meetings held with the information commissioners in October 2009 will also be made available on the DoPT website soon." > > The persons in that delegation said to have met Mr Consul that day ?? Aruna Roy, Prashant Bhushan, Shekhar Singh, Annie Raj, Lokesh Batra, Nikhil De. > > > --- In [email protected], "Arun" arun_agrawal@ wrote: > > > > > > Dear Sarabjit : > > > > > > > > This is becoming curioser and curioser . > > > > Can you please refer me to press statements/newspaper reports of the > > Group calling on the DoPT Secretary on the "Dharna" day ? Can I find > > them somewhere on this group itself ? > > > > Dr Arun Agrawal > > > > > > http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article48769.ece?css=print > > > > > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Villagers-activists-up-in-\ \ > > arms-over-proposed-RTI-changes-/articleshow/5231135.cms > > > > > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Public-debate-to-precede-amendments-to\ \ > > -RTI--Chavan/542547 > > > > > > > > > > > > let me know if you want more emails.. i can zip them all and send it > > to you >
