Opposition to the proposed amendment in Maharashtra RTI Rules grows
5 Jul, 2013The citizens continue to join the effort to adopt the central RTI rules in Maharashtra as letters to CM Prithviraj Chavan and other officials continue to pour in opposing the draft rules said to be under consideration by the government. The letter expresses the citizens’ issues with the new RTI Appeal Procedure Rules that Maharashtra Government is examining for adoption for the state. More than 150 prominent activists and RTI experts from Mumbai and Pune have signed this letter apart from a large numbers of concerned citizens. The third batch of letters with acknowledgement stamps of the offices of Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (General Administration Department), and Principal Secretary (Law & Judiciary) were received last Friday.
Earlier, prominent activists studied the appeal procedure rules and drafted this letter, which pointed out the ills and suggested amendments. Calling these proposed changes as anti-people in the proposed Appeal Procedure rules, the RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar of Pune had made a request not to go ahead with the draft proposals. In January 2012, Maharashtra’s RTI Rules (which is not the same as RTI Appeal Procedure Rules) were stealthily amended by the state government, which has been criticised by the RTI activists.
There has not been any statement from the Maharashtra government so far.