New Delhi: Chief Information Commissioner A
N Tiwari on Tuesday said RTI applicants who are facing threats to
their lives should be provided adequate security.
"Today state provides security to a number of people
including those who don`t deserve state security.
"There is absolutely no reason why security should not be
provided to those RTI activists who are under threat but this
has to be done by the state governments," the Chief
Information Commissioner said while replying to a question
after first the foundation-day lecture of the Central
Information Commission here.
The lecture delivered by eminent psychologist and scholar
Ashis Nandi dwelt upon the regime of secrecy in democracies
and its increasing influence on the governance.
After the lecture, one of the guests asked about the
protection of whistleblowers in a democracy like India.
Replying to it, Tiwari said the CIC may be most visible
of Commissions but it is the state commissions which should
throw their weight behind the issues of protection of the RTI
activists who are facing such threats.
Nearly 10 RTI activists across the country including
Amit Jethwa of Gujarat, Satish Shetty of Pune, Vitthal Gite of
Beed, Dattaraya Patil of Kolhapur have been killed allegedly
for collecting information about corruption by heavyweights
and mafia.
Earlier during his lecture, Nandi with an underlined
irony said as the country progresses, the demand of secrecy
will also increase. He cited a number of examples across the
globe to highlight the phenomenon of increasing secrecy in the
societies like United States, Israel which are known as
champions of freedom and liberty.
Nandi said such phenomenon is "independent of any
political establishment" be it democratic or despotic.
PTI
