Political parties which often seen fighting among each other with €war of words€, though which is quite healthy from citizens point of view, as citizens get so many views on an issue. This helps them to form some opinion on a certain topic. But there have been no discussion, no opposition over CIC rule for €political parties should come under (RTI) Right to Information act.€
The CIC had ruled on 3rd June that any written records can now be sought from any entity in a political party. This means that now they would have to share, if sought, details like who funds them, how they spend that money and even how they select candidates for elections.
CIC said, €Major political parties which are substantially financed by the Central government directly or indirectly and, therefore, they are held to be public authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.€
All political parties have argued that they are not government funded and are not public authorities and so should not be brought under the RTI Act, which seeks to make transparent all expenditure of public money and other details about public authorities that impact citizens.
Here some reactions are accumulated from across the country.
Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said, €It is not acceptable. We totally disagree with it. Such adventurist approach will create a lot of harm and damage to democratic institutions.€
Now people will get an idea what is the actual reason for not accepting CIC rule, from this statement. Manish Tewari, the union cabinet minister for Information and Broadcasting said, €I think you need to make a distinction out here. All donations which are above Rs. 20,000, the donors are revealed to the Income Tax authorities.€
On claims that most of their donations come under Rs. 20,000, so they are hidden, he said, €Look at it in a broader perspective. Look at a party which has a presence in across 6,30,000 villages in this country...So, you have a lot of small donors who contribute out of political conviction.€
Asked why the donations cannot be revealed to the country, the Minister said, €For that you don't need the RTI. All that you need to do is make an amendment to the Income Tax Act.€
It means that political parties are ready to make amendment in income tax act but bringing it under RTI act.
BJP's stand on this issue is still unclear, but they also did not strongly oppose the government for passing an ordinance on this issue.
BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, €Election Commission should decide if political parties can come under RTI.€
BJP spokesperson Menakshi Lekhi said, €We haven't seen the decision and we will respond to it after reading it.€
But questions will be arising more as BJP leader Gopinath Munde has expressed his views about elections expenditure. He said, €I have spent 8cr rupees in 2009 Lok Sabha election.€ However there is a limit of 40 lakhs per candidate and in 2009 it was 25 lakhs. Then how did he spend 8 crores for him.
Samajwadi Party is not only opposing CIC order but totally against RTI act. SP leader Naresh Aggrawal said, €We are totally against it, as political parties have so many things which we can't discuss on public platform.€
He later said, €if it is so required then why defence, courts and many other organisations are exempted from this act. This RTI act is not fulfilling anything and we are totally against it.€
JD(U) which just parted itself from BJP on ideological differences, came with an astonishment over CIC order. Janata Dal-United (JDU) chief Yadav wondered how it was possible for political parties to divulge information about inner matters.
"It is not practical to share resolutions of the parties, which are made in the executive committee meetings and also to share the process of selection of candidates for the party organisations," he said.
"I fail to understand the logic behind the CIC order.€
Political parties like CPI(M), CPM who believe in communism, equality and implies that they believe in transparency as well also come up with unexpected reaction.
The CPI(M), in a statement, said it "cannot accept" the CIC order that political parties are to be treated as "public authorities" and brought under the purview of the Right to Information Act.
"This decision is based on a fundamental misconception about the role of political parties in a parliamentary democracy," it said, adding "This will interfere with and hamper the functioning of a political party.
Aam Aadmi Party who are going to do debut performance in the coming Delhi assembly election have supported the ruling of CIC. Though their support is not going to make any impact as they are not the part of government right now.
Arvind Kejriwal, national convenor of Aam Aadmi Party said, €We welcome CIC judgement bringing pol parties under RTI.€
Kiran Bedi tweeted that €Appears RTI Act is acceptable to Govt+Pol Parties only, as long as it allows secrecy into their polluted accounts! Shame!€
The way CIC ruling has annoyed all parties, particularly the Congress. I will not be surprised if the ordinance is passed with the support of all parties. None of them believe in transparency.
The government is considering an ordinance to strike down a landmark order of the Central Information Commission that brought political parties under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act, a move likely to anger votaries of greater transparency in politics and further vilify politicians.
This is one move that the government will find little opposition to. It is considering an ordinance to supersede this month's order of the Central Information Commission bringing political parties under the Right to Information or RTI Act.
Political parties coming under RTI Act is a very important decision by Central Information Commission (CIC) through its full bench and it will have far reaching implications.
The CIC had ruled on 3rd June that any written records can now be sought from any entity in a political party. This means that now they would have to share, if sought, details like who funds them, how they spend that money and even how they select candidates for elections.
CIC said, €Major political parties which are substantially financed by the Central government directly or indirectly and, therefore, they are held to be public authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.€
All political parties have argued that they are not government funded and are not public authorities and so should not be brought under the RTI Act, which seeks to make transparent all expenditure of public money and other details about public authorities that impact citizens.
Here some reactions are accumulated from across the country.
Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said, €It is not acceptable. We totally disagree with it. Such adventurist approach will create a lot of harm and damage to democratic institutions.€
Now people will get an idea what is the actual reason for not accepting CIC rule, from this statement. Manish Tewari, the union cabinet minister for Information and Broadcasting said, €I think you need to make a distinction out here. All donations which are above Rs. 20,000, the donors are revealed to the Income Tax authorities.€
On claims that most of their donations come under Rs. 20,000, so they are hidden, he said, €Look at it in a broader perspective. Look at a party which has a presence in across 6,30,000 villages in this country...So, you have a lot of small donors who contribute out of political conviction.€
Asked why the donations cannot be revealed to the country, the Minister said, €For that you don't need the RTI. All that you need to do is make an amendment to the Income Tax Act.€
It means that political parties are ready to make amendment in income tax act but bringing it under RTI act.
BJP's stand on this issue is still unclear, but they also did not strongly oppose the government for passing an ordinance on this issue.
BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, €Election Commission should decide if political parties can come under RTI.€
BJP spokesperson Menakshi Lekhi said, €We haven't seen the decision and we will respond to it after reading it.€
But questions will be arising more as BJP leader Gopinath Munde has expressed his views about elections expenditure. He said, €I have spent 8cr rupees in 2009 Lok Sabha election.€ However there is a limit of 40 lakhs per candidate and in 2009 it was 25 lakhs. Then how did he spend 8 crores for him.
Samajwadi Party is not only opposing CIC order but totally against RTI act. SP leader Naresh Aggrawal said, €We are totally against it, as political parties have so many things which we can't discuss on public platform.€
He later said, €if it is so required then why defence, courts and many other organisations are exempted from this act. This RTI act is not fulfilling anything and we are totally against it.€
JD(U) which just parted itself from BJP on ideological differences, came with an astonishment over CIC order. Janata Dal-United (JDU) chief Yadav wondered how it was possible for political parties to divulge information about inner matters.
"It is not practical to share resolutions of the parties, which are made in the executive committee meetings and also to share the process of selection of candidates for the party organisations," he said.
"I fail to understand the logic behind the CIC order.€
Political parties like CPI(M), CPM who believe in communism, equality and implies that they believe in transparency as well also come up with unexpected reaction.
The CPI(M), in a statement, said it "cannot accept" the CIC order that political parties are to be treated as "public authorities" and brought under the purview of the Right to Information Act.
"This decision is based on a fundamental misconception about the role of political parties in a parliamentary democracy," it said, adding "This will interfere with and hamper the functioning of a political party.
Aam Aadmi Party who are going to do debut performance in the coming Delhi assembly election have supported the ruling of CIC. Though their support is not going to make any impact as they are not the part of government right now.
Arvind Kejriwal, national convenor of Aam Aadmi Party said, €We welcome CIC judgement bringing pol parties under RTI.€
Kiran Bedi tweeted that €Appears RTI Act is acceptable to Govt+Pol Parties only, as long as it allows secrecy into their polluted accounts! Shame!€
The way CIC ruling has annoyed all parties, particularly the Congress. I will not be surprised if the ordinance is passed with the support of all parties. None of them believe in transparency.
The government is considering an ordinance to strike down a landmark order of the Central Information Commission that brought political parties under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act, a move likely to anger votaries of greater transparency in politics and further vilify politicians.
This is one move that the government will find little opposition to. It is considering an ordinance to supersede this month's order of the Central Information Commission bringing political parties under the Right to Information or RTI Act.
Political parties coming under RTI Act is a very important decision by Central Information Commission (CIC) through its full bench and it will have far reaching implications.
Source...