Mumbai: Campaign against amendments to RTI under data protection

The RTI activists in the city have started a campaign against what they call "amendments to the RTI Act through proposed Data Protection Bill". They say that certain provisions of the Bill look to replace section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act.

This, they believe, will ensure that officials will not be held accountable and that transparency will be affected. Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act states that providing personal information can be denied unless the disclosure is in public interest. It also states that no information that cannot be denied to the state legislature and parliament shall be withheld.

"As per data protection, it seems they have suggested changes to 8 (1) (j) or strike it odd altogether. If they take that stand and data protection has an overriding effect, then all information will be termed a personal and will not be provided," said Bhaskar Prabhu, an RTI activist.

"The more serious amendment to RTI Act has been proposed in the Data Protection Bill. It seeks to make Section 8 (1)(j) an omnibus exemption which could be used to deny most information where there is the name of an individual," said Shailesh Gandhi who has started a campaign for people to call up lawmakers.

The campaign looks at citizens calling their respective elected representatives to ask them to not amend the RTI Act for a decade. "They did not even consult the Central Information Commission before thinking of making this kind of an amendment. It should have been discussed before putting it in the Bill," said Prabhu.