Twenty years ago when the Aruna Roy organized the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan to fight for poor peasants and rural labourers in a remote village of Rajsamand district in Rajasthan, demanding the right to know often came at a heavy price. Sadly not much has changed.
The recent death of 43-years-old RTI activist, Ramdas Bapuji Ubale-Ghadegaonkar in mysterious condition at Nanded district of Maharastra evokes horrific memories of the murders of Satyendra Dubey, an engineer of National Highway Authority of India and Manjunath Shanmugam, an Indian Oil Corporation executive, both killed for exposing criminals.
The very logic of the RTI would suggest that the time has come to legally protect “whistleblowers” or those who seek to expose wrongdoing. The Law Commission, the National Human Rights Commission and the Administrative Reforms Commission have all recommended such a law.
N. Vittal, then Chief Vigilance Commissioner, initiated the whistleblower bill in 1999. “The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection for Persons Making Disclosure Bill 2010” received assent from the cabinet last month.”
In its present form the act defines public interest disclosure as any information that shows misuse of public money or authority. Any person who provides information will be treated as Whistleblower. The bill gives powers to the CVC to protect Whistleblower from any disciplinary action for exposing corruption in government.
Besides, the CVC is required to protect the identity of the informer, in case of failure the family of the whistleblower will be able to initiate action the officials who reveal the identity. However, several activists across India are apprehensive about the bill in its present form.
According to Arvind Kejriwal, founder of Parivartan, a Delhi based Nongovernmental Organisation (NGO) Whistleblower bill 2010 is just “eyewash.” “We cannot trust CVC, as in the past it could neither check corruption nor give protection to anyone who exposed corruption.” Kejriwal was instrumental in enactment of RTI act in India.
Asked whether his suggestion were asked while drafting the bill, he said “Not at all,” In fact he came to only about the bill after the cabinet approved it, he added. Considering the deteriorating situation and incessant attack on the activist no such bill will help to protect whistleblower, said Kejriwal. He says that the country has to have a strong criminal justice system where no murderer should be able to get away.
“Government has drafted the bill without inviting any suggestions from the people who have faced the wrath of goons for exposing corruption and in such case the bill cannot meet the expectations of people who are going to be affected,” complains M N Vijay Kumar, 1981 batch IAS officer of Karnataka Cadre. He is one of the three whistleblower of India according to Transparency International; a Germany based international NGO fighting against corruption. The other two were Satyendra Dubey and Manjunath Shanmugam.
He says the draft of Whistleblower's Bill was denied even when asked under RTI Act. According to him a large number of honest officials are under the wrong impression that whistle blowing is a serious misconduct. Without protecting whistleblowers it is almost impossible to expose high-level corruption, he added.
Krishnaraj Rao, a journalist by profession and an RTI campaigner in Mumbai feels that the bill is deadly for whistle-blowers since section 3(6) makes disclosure of complainant’s identity compulsory.
Further, Sec 4(6) says if the CVC is “of the opinion” that there are no “sufficient grounds” for proceeding with the enquiry it shall close the matter. Thus, the Act will allow CVC to methodically force whistle-blowers to expose them, and then desert them in a dangerous situation with no protection, said Rao.
“The bill will not serve any purpose, unless and until the executing authority is made independent of government,” said Neeraj kumar, he has been working in the field of RTI since 2002, when the Delhi Right to Information Act was enacted. Adding to it he said that the body should be empowered to make its own decision without the influence and interference of politicians.
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