The Indian agency that supervises right to information administration has circulated for discussion the RTI Act rules of the state of Uttar Pradesh, according to The Economic Times.
RTI activists say that that the UP rules are worse than those of other states and worried that they might be considered as a model for national rules. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) circulated Uttar Pradesh’s RTI rules in January and is considering a workshop for discussion.
Venkatesh Nayak of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative told the Times:
This is an unprecedented move by DoPT. It would have been better advised to hold a workshop on the various RTI rules notified by state governments, which would have led to a harmonising. We are surprised Uttar Pradesh rules have been circulated since several others — like Uttarakhand —have better versions more in sync with the Central Act.
RTI activist Lokesh Batra, was quoted as saying, “This is an attempt to circulate Uttar Pradesh rules as model rules though they go against the spirit of the RTI Act, apart from making RTI users an easy target in case of life threats and murders. It is a cause for concern.”
Among other things, the Uttar Pradesh rules, allow a public information officer to reject, any application beyond 500 words.
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