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National News
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| RTI activists meet Rahul Gandhi; seek rollback of DPDP Act amendments | | | |  NEW DELHI: A delegation of civil society groups and activists met with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to express their concerns regarding the amendments made to the Right to Information (RTI) Act through the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act of 2023.
During the meeting, Gandhi assured the delegation that he would address the issue with leaders of the INDIA coalition.
The delegation included prominent figures such as Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bhardwaj, and Amrita Johri from the National Campaign for People's Right to Information; Apar Gupta from the Internet Freedom Foundation; Kamal Jaswal of the Constitutional Conduct Group; academic Jayati Ghosh; former Central Information Commissioner Professor M M Ansari; and Anant Nath, President of the Editors Guild.
The delegation tried to lobby with political parties to raise concerns in parliament and demand the immediate rollback of the amendments made to the RTI through Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.
The delegation also briefed Gandhi on the chilling implications of the DPDP Act on journalists, academics, activists, unions, and political parties in terms of access to and use of critical information to seek accountability.
Under the pretext of safeguarding privacy, curtails access to public information, which is essential for citizens and journalists to hold the government accountable,” said Gandhi during a delegation meeting.
He further stated that the “government is attempting to shield itself from scrutiny, undermining transparency and weakening democratic oversight” and that Congress will take up the issue in collaboration with INDIA coalition leaders.
Enacted in 2005, the RTI has been instrumental in empowering millions of Indian citizens to seek transparency and accountability from public institutions. However, the amendments introduced through the DPDP Act fundamentally weaken the RTI framework and fail to protect the right to privacy.
Section 44(3) of the DPDP amends Section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act to exempt all personal information from disclosure.
“With this amendment, the government get sweeping power to deny any personal information for seeking accountability,” said Bhardwaj.
The RTI Act already provided a nuanced and detailed framework for ensuring peoples’ right to information while also safeguarding personal information. Personal information could be denied only if it had no relationship to any public activity or public interest; or would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy,” Bhardwaj added.
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