The Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest constituent of Kerala’s ruling coalition, has come out in the open against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s attempt to dilute the people’s right to information (RTI).
“We cannot in any manner accept attempts at weakening the federal Right to Information (RTI) Act,” its secretary Kanam Rajendran said yesterday.
“The Communists cannot follow the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Congress party. We cannot accept (Vijayan) repeating the argument of (his predecessor and Congress party leader) Oommen Chandy.”
The Congress party-led government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh brought in the revolutionary legislation in 2005 enabling citizens the right to request information from a public authority. The citizen is entitled to get a reply within 30 days from the authority to which he has submitted his request.
However, RTI activists claim they are not getting information on crucial Cabinet decisions ever since Vijayan assumed office eight months ago. The chief minister also challenged an order to this effect by the state information commission (SIC) in the high court, which is still pending disposal.
Last week, Vijayan made it clear that the public does not have to be informed on all Cabinet decisions before these are implemented as it would hinder effective implementation. He also warned of the chances of a “minority” RTI activists misusing the law.
“The present government has a responsibility to fulfill its promises to the people,” Rajendran reminded the chief minister.
“His is the same interpretation that Chandy made during the previous dispensation.”
Rajendran also said Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Vijayan’s Communist Party of India (Marxist) were equally responsible for the recent spate of political killings in Kannur, Vijayan’s home district.
The Congress party said Vijayan was killing the spirit of the revolutionary legislation to “do whatever the government liked without allowing public scrutiny.”
RTI lawyer D B Binu, who had impleaded in the government’s petition against the SIC order in the high court, said he received a reply from SIC that the government had refused to divulge information on 36 crucial Cabinet decisions.
Vijayan, when in opposition, had described Chandy’s transparency initiative as hollow and even went on to allege that the senior Congress leader was hiding behind the curtains of secrecy as he feared people would drive him out if his true colours were revealed.
But, on assuming power, Vijayan removed the cameras that webcast the chief minister’s office and chamber to the world, restricted entry of the public and cancelled the decades-old practice of his predecessors of holding a weekly media briefing.