July 29, 2018

(Deccan Herald)

By: Venkatesh Nayak

Three days ago, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology uploaded two important documents on its website. The first is a report containing the findings of a committee of experts headed by former Supreme Court Justice BN Srikrishna on an elaborate mechanism for protecting the privacy of citizens. The second is a draft Bill that the same committee has proposed for protecting personal data of individuals, which, Among other things,seeks anamendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act. This is the second attempt in less than six months to tinker with a law that has been a game-changer. Millions of citizens have used the RTI Act, 2005, for more than a decade to demand transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities. Read More