MPs, activists oppose government’s attempts to amend RTI Act with data protection bill IV News

“The government is weakening people’s rights and centralizing power with itself. He said that while balancing RTI and the Data Protection Bill, no changes should be made to the RTI Act. Whether information is shared or not [if the Bill passes] will be at the whims and fancies of the central government,” said Karti Chidambaram, Congress MP and member of the standing committee that examined the DPDP Bill.

NCPRI’s Nikhil Dey said public disclosure of information is crucial for people to be able to access their rights. Citing the example of the MGNREGA public database that enables people to do public monitoring and tracking of funds, wages, jobs, he said that if such information is removed due to the DPDP bill, people will find it impossible to access their rights.

The government’s tenure has been characterized by dilution of people’s fundamental rights, Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar pointed out, adding that although the committee discussed the bill, there was no focus on the question of its impact on the RTI Act. He is also on the IT Standing Committee.