Bhubaneswar: Noted social activist and co-convenor of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) and founding member of Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), Anjali Bharadwaj, accused the Central government of making every attempt to weaken the Right to Information (RTI) Act that makes the country truly democratic and gives people the power to question. “This is because they (Central govt) do not want to be answerable to the people and wish to continue with corruption,” said Bharadwaj while speaking at a seminar, titled, ‘Electoral Bonds and our Right to Information (RTI)’ at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, here, Sunday.
The event was organised by Odisha Suchana Adhikar Abhiuyan (OSAA). Elaborating, Bharadwaj said the Central government, through many amendments, tried to weaken the RTI act, including controlling the salary and tenure of Information Commissions. “The government is also trying to effect more amendments to exclude different schemes under the act’s purview so that the information can’t be disclosed. This will further weaken the act,” she said, adding that four states – Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Telangana – don’t have proper Information Commissions at all. Shedding light on the Electoral Bonds scheme, Bharadwaj said it is a Central government’s ploy to make corruption legal wherein big corporates provide large sums of money through bonds to parties. “And the BJP is the biggest beneficiary of these bonds. Even BJD also get Rs 1,000 crore worth bonds. The non-disclosure of the received money is a clear violation of Right to Information,” she added. Veteran Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhusan and Amrita Johri, members of NCPI and SNS, also addressed the seminar.
Recently, in a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court (SC) struck down the electoral bonds scheme calling it unconstitutional and stopped its further sale. The SC directed the disclosure of all bonds sold and redeemed. The SBI’s attempt to delay the disclosure of crucial information, which would allow tracking of donations through bonds, was rejected by SC. Date shows Rs 12,155 crore worth of electoral bonds were purchased by corporate groups and individuals, and Rs 12,769 crore of bonds were encashed by political parties since April 12, 2019. The BJP was the biggest beneficiary of bonds accounting for Rs 6,060 crore which is over 47 per cent of the total amount of electoral bonds encashed. The panel at the seminar demanded a court-monitored SIT to probe into the electoral bonds scheme.