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Increase scope of RTI Act

Kashmir Times. Dated: 8/26/2016 1:27:06 AM

Dear Editor,
It is quite often that bodies/institutions declared public-authorities by Central Information Commission (CIC) often challenge CIC-verdicts in courts and get stay-order against CIC-verdicts. There are bodies like IFFCO which despite involved in heavy dose of subsidy could not somehow be declared public-authority by CIC. It is time that either central government declares categories like public-private-partnerships (PPP), co-operative societies, all sports-bodies (including BCCI and its affiliated units) and all those getting any direct or indirect government-funding in any form may be automatically covered under RTI Act.
Central government favouring political parties for not complying with CIC-verdict holding them under RTI Act, should snatch all direct/indirect funding including tax-exemptions, government-land/accommodation, radio-TV timings, voters-lists etc.
Private companies dominating sectors like telecommunication, banking with lot of malpractices against consumers’ interests though indirectly covered under section 2(f) of RTI Act through regulatory bodies, should be directly covered under RTI Act like is in South Africa for companies/firm having turn-over above some stipulated limit.
However to prevent misuse of RTI Act, RTI fees should be raised to rupees fifty inclusive of copying charges for first twenty copied pages apart from making it compulsory to enclose an Identity-Proof bearing signature with each RTI petition. But at the same time, Postal Department should extend facility of accepting RTI petitions addressed to central public-authorities without requiring postal-charges at all post-offices rather than at just about 2500 post-offices out of about 160000 post-offices in the country.
—Madhu Agrawal,
1775 Kucha Lattushah
Dariba Delhi