CPI responds to an application filed under the RTI Act
18 Jul, 2013
After the order of Central Information Commission (CIC) declaring six major political parties as public authorities as they were substantially funded by the government, an application was filed with the Communist Party of India (CPI) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of the funds received by it in past five years.
The reply from the CPI to the RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal states that the party received funding worth over Rs. 3 crore in past five years. The data provided in the reply shows that the CPI received Rs. 31,362,341 from various sources since 2008. This data includes contributions of only above Rs. 20,000. By replying to the RTI query, the Communist Party of India has become the first ever and the only political party to respond to a query under the transparency act. This is despite the fact that the party doesn't approve of the CIC's decision to bring political parties under the purview of RTI Act.
However, other similar petitions sent to various political parties have remained unanswered.