By IANS,
Kolkata : Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily Monday said certain “inbuilt weaknesses” in the Right to Information (RTI) Act need to be addressed, adding that the bureaucracy should know how to meet the challenges posed by it – such as “how to write in a file”.
“There are several aspects in the RTI Act. RTI can’t be used as an instrument to blackmail. RTI should be used for public interest. There are certain inbuilt weaknesses which need to be addressed. That doesn’t mean we need to amend it,” Moily, a former law minister, told reporters on the sidelines of a programme organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.
“It (RTI) can’t be used for the agenda of some political party, the agenda of some people who would like to see that the country is not built but destroyed,” he said.
Calling for a national debate on RTI, the minister said it is an input to build participatory democracy in the country.
“But that doesn’t mean we are going to amend the act or any of its provisions.”
Moily’s comments came three days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a critical look at the RTI Act, saying the law should not adversely affect the deliberative processes in the government.
The prime minister had said there were “concerns that it (the Act) could end up discouraging honest, well meaning public servants from giving full expression to their views”.
Moily underscored the need for capacity building within the bureaucracy and said: “They (bureaucrats) should know how to act against the challenges of RTI. I think in this respect there is deficiency in governance.”
Asked what would be the capacity building process, he said: “Officers should also know how to write in a file. Ministers should also know what to write, how to write,” he said.
There is a question of accountability, he said, without giving details.