UPA will not dilute Right to information Act: Prithviraj Chavan

The UPA is fully committed to ensuring transparency in governance and the proposed amendments in the Right to Information Act are in no way aimed at diluting it, Union minister Prithviraj Chavan said here today.

"The proposed amendments in the RTI are aimed at removing certain legal shortcomings and would in no way render it ineffective. We are working on certain recommendations from the Administrative Reforms Commission with additional inputs from private organisations and NGOs.

"People must not fear that their right to information would be curtailed," the minister of state for public grievances told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Chavan said the government is, "in fact, of the view that all matters of governance other than those relating to national security and hence deserving confidentiality should be made available on respective websites so that people can get the information required by them without even undergoing the cumbersome process of filing an RTI application".

Moreover, the UPA will never forget that RTI has been one of its main achievements and has done a lot to enhance its credibility among the common people of the country," he said.

Chavan was in Jhalwa, on the outskirts of the city, to address the concluding session of a function organised by the Indian Institute for Information Technology-Allahabad.

Speaking at 'Science Conclave', Chavan said improving the quality of education in basic sciences is vital to the progress of the country.

"The UPA government had last year doubled the expenditure on science and technology in recognition of its vital role in economic progress," he said.

"This would, however, not yield desired results unless we have a pool of talent that can adequately cater to the needs of the country," Chavan said, adding that to achieve this, efforts are being made to provide impetus to science education.

The minister expressed concern over the fact that "our youth, lured away by more lucrative options like engineering and finance, does not seem to be sufficiently interested in basic sciences".

"We are trying to change this with the help of schemes like INSPIRE, in which brightest young minds from across the country are picked up and given an opportunity to interact with top scientists who would introduce them to the wonder and joys of science," he said.

Replying to a question, Chavan said "the UPA government was doing everything possible to improve the state of higher education in Uttar Pradesh. The grant for BHU has been hiked recently.

Under the INSPIRE programme, 600 students have been picked up from this state alone, the minister said.