‘Partisan politics of the party has inflicted enormous economic damage on the country’
The government on Friday sought to justify its decision to amend the
Right to Information Act to keep political parties out of its purview on
the ground that they were not public authorities but were only
voluntary associations of individuals.
Briefing reporters on the deliberations on Thursday of a Cabinet
meeting, which approved the draft amendment to the RTI Act, Law
Minister, Kapil Sibal said the stance of the Central Information
Commission (CIC) that political parties were public authorities as they
were substantially funded by the government and thus would come under
the ambit of RTI Act was wrong.
If the interpretation of the CIC was right, then farmers, industries and
others who also get substantial support from the government in the form
of subsidies, tax exemptions and benefits should also be covered under
the RTI. “We are elected. We are not appointed like officials.”
Mr. Sibal pointed out that several measures were in place to ensure
transparency in the functioning of political parties. They include
provisions under the Representation of the People Act for declaring
donations to the parties, election expenditures made by the parties and
their candidates and the assets and liabilities of candidates.
“There are sufficient provisions to deal with each and every aspect of
financing, its declaration and punishment for filing false affidavit and
all such information are made available to the public through the
Election Commission’s website.’’
Source: http://tinyurl.com/ldryypg
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