National Campaign for People's Right to Information

National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) was established in 1996 to advocate for a legal backing to citizens right to information. This resulted in the historic and pro-people law - the Right to Information Act, 2005. More recently, this movement has also campaigned for Grievance redressal bill and Whistleblowers protection bill.[1][2] It is a network of organisations and individuals who use the Right to Information law to demand transparency and accountability of government, but also support the use of the RTI in various other sectors to demand accountability.

History

The campaign has its roots in the work and experiences of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. It was established in 1996 at a gathering of more than a hundred activist organisations. Later that year, it drafted the first version of a Right to Information Law in India, along with the Press Council of India.[3] The city of Beawar now has an official plaque that pays tribute to the Chang Gate protest which has a pivotal moment in the fight for the RTI.[4][5][6][7]

Anti-Corruption Bills

The National Campaign for People's Right to Information demanded the Whistleblowers Protection Bill, 2011, be amended, including by a clearer definition of victimization, protection for persons other than the whistleblowers who provide relevant information, penalty for mala fide revelation of the identity of whistleblowers, a time limit for complaints and provision for filing anonymous complaints.[8]

The campaign has steadily fought for the passage of the Whistleblower Protection bill since September 2010. As a part of public action for the passage of the bill, families of whistleblowers gathered in Delhi to demand the immediate passage of the bill.[9] The Whistleblower Protection bill was passed on 21 February 2014.[10]

The other Bill that the NCPRI advocated for was a Grievance Redressal Bill.

Affiliate Organisations & Resources

There are several organizations and individuals that are part of the NCPRI eco-system.

  1. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)
  2. Communist International (Marxist-Leninist)
  3. Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
  4. Swadeshi Jagran Manch
  5. Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS India)

Important RTI's

  1. On Electoral Bonds: - SBI received Rs. 3.47 crore as commission, Dec 2020 - Rs. 1000 Electoral Bond unclaimed - Quantity of Bonds sold since 2018 - 2/3 donations to parties via bonds - More Party Funding, Ever More Opaque

Important Television Debates, Articles, Interviews, Books & Lectures

  1. 15 Years of RTI, Nikhil Dey in Frontline Magazine, December 2020[11]
  2. Pustak Lokarpan Lecture by Aruna Roy, November 2020
  3. Bhaskar Prabhu on Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
  4. Six Years On, Lokpal is a Non-Starter, The Hindu[12]
  5. Moneylife Foundation Annual RTI Lectures: "Is Good Governance the Right of a Citizen in Democracy?", Sept 2019
  6. 5 November 2001, Noam Chomsky on 'Militarism, Democracy and People's Right to Information' at the Delhi School of Economics
  7. Capturing Institutional Change: The Case of the Right to Information Act in India, 2021, by Himanshu Jha [13]

NCPRI Conventions, Public Meetings, Activities & Hearings

  1. Jan Manch on Electoral Bonds, RTI Amendments & Whistleblower Protection Bill, December 2019[14]

Campaigns of NCPRI

  • Right to Information
  • Right to Reject
  • Right to be left alone
  • Digital Free Speech initiative
  • India Against Corruption
  • Electoral Reforms[15]

Recent activities

The National Campaign for People's Right to Information met the Prime Minister on 19 August 2013 to submit a petition seeking deferring amendments related to the exclusion of the political parties from the ambit of the Right to Information Act.[16]

Dhananjay Dubey, brother of murdered whistleblower Satyendra Dubey, and the National Campaign for People's Right to Information started a petition signed by over 10,000 people demanding the immediate passage of the Whistleblower Protection and Grievance Redress bills.[17]

The NCPRI supports and endorses efforts towards accountability and transparency in various domains.[citation needed]

1. Official website of NCPRI

References

  1. ^ "Grievance redressal Bill could be the next RTI". The Times of India. 10 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  2. ^ Subrahmaniam, Vidya (12 October 2011). "NCPRI brainstorms Grievance Redress, Whistleblower Protection". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  3. ^ Baviskar, Amita (2010). John Gaventa and Rosemary McGee (ed.). Winning the right to information in India: Is knowledge power?. London: Zed Books.
  4. ^ "RTI Diary". Outlook India Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Memorial on RTI struggle unveiled in Beawar". Hindustan Times. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  6. ^ Iqbal, Mohammed (28 May 2016). "RTI gets a memorial in Rajasthan". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  7. ^ chatterjee, radhika. "Lifting the Veil of State Secrecy, One Application at a Time". The Citizen. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Approve Whistleblowers Protection Bill in the budget session: NCPRI". mint. 19 April 2013.
  9. ^ IANS (2 December 2013). "NCPRI for early passage of whistleblowers protection bill". Times of India. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  10. ^ PTI (23 February 2014). "Whistleblowers' Protection Bill passed". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  11. ^ Katakam, Anupama. "Nikhil Dey: 'RTI helped change the culture of governance'". Frontline. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  12. ^ Johri, Amrita; Bhardwaj, Anjali (12 February 2020). "Six years on, Lokpal is a non-starter". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  13. ^ Jha, Himanshu (2021). Mukherjee, Rahul; Mitra, Subrata K; Jha, Raghbendra (eds.). "Capturing Institutional Change: The Case of the Right to Information Act in India - Oxford Scholarship". oxford.universitypressscholarship.com. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190124786.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-012478-6. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Centre's Access to Information on Electoral Bonds' Donors Is Unfair: Opposition". The Wire. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  15. ^ Campaigns of NCPRI from Official website of NCPRI accessed 23.12.2023
  16. ^ "Activists meet PM to protest against RTI amendments". The Times of India.
  17. ^ "Petition for passage of Whistleblower Protection bill". Retrieved 1 March 2014.