Opposition parties commit to fight against any amendment in RTI Act

NEW DELHI: 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.nnSenior 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.nnHe was addressing a meeting organised by the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information(NCPRI).nnCongress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda charged the BJP-led central government with “destroying” institutions and legislations of transparency and accountability in the country.nn”The Congress will oppose any amendment to the RTI Act,” he said.nnThe 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.nnThe political leaders also extended their support for immediate operationalisation of the whistleblowers protection act and the Lokpal law.nnRTI 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.nnA ‘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.nnSource: Press Trust of India