From: freedominfo.org
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 16/05/2005 21:20
Subject: India Approves Stronger Right to Information Law
freedominfo.org update, May 16, 2005
India Approves Stronger Right to Information Law
http://www.freedominfo.org
May 16, 2005 - India's Lok Sobha (Parliament) approved a new and
stronger Right to Information Act on May 11, 2005, and the
English-language text of the new law was posted today at
www.freedominfo.org, the virtual network of international freedom of
information advocates. One of the co-founders of India's National
Campaign for the Peoples' Right to Know, Shekhar Singh, commented that
the act "has turned out rather well and certainly better than we
expected."
The new law replaces a weaker law enacted by the Lok Sobha in 2002 but
never entered into force by the previous government, which was replaced
in the elections of 2004 by the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress Party
coalition. Mrs. Gandhi made the right to information a major component
of her platform, and appointed a distinguished group of civil society
advisers, including Aruna Roy of MKSS, as a National Advisory Council to
hold the new government to its promises.
On 23 December 2004, Roy and other Council members wrote Mrs. Gandhi
(who serves as the majority leader in the Parliament and the head of the
Council, but not as a minister) to protest the government's draft, just
introduced in Parliament, of a new right-to-information law, which
retreated significantly from campaign pledges as well as the Council's
own discussions with Mrs. Gandhi. The new law, as passed on May 11,
addresses most of the problems identified by the Council's letter, and
represents a significant step toward greater government openness in the
world's largest democracy.
The freedominfo.org site expects to post in the coming days further
commentary and assessment of this important new law.
http://www.freedominfo.org
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and links the efforts of freedom of information advocates around the
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provisions have worked in practice.
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