Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Shocking

The Cabinet's decision to amend the Right to Information Act comes as a rude shock. Excluding file notings from the purview of the Act will render it lifeless. The Act is a milestone in the history of our democracy, with emphasis on an informed citizenry. And even before its first anniversary, it has started making an impact — as is evident from the decision to amend it.

Sangeetha Unnithan,
Thiruvananthapuram

File notings provide a crucial insight into the working of the government machinery. Keeping them out of the purview of the right is as good as rendering a tiger toothless.

Gaurav Sharma,
Gurgaon, Haryana

About a year into its run, the RTI Act that seemed to have started making an impact is beginning to bear the brunt of the so-called privileged inhibitors.

Allampati Mallikarjuna Reddy,
Hyderabad

The proposed amendments will not only defeat the purpose of scrutiny of government files but also give a carte blanche to bureaucrats to make excuses for suppressing information.

C. Lakshmi Prasanna,
Hyderabad

It is no surprise that the bureaucracy has sought to convince our lawmakers of the `dangerous' consequences of granting the right to information to the citizen.

The elected representatives must see through the game of officialdom and join forces with the common people to thwart its designs.

C.P. Srinivasan,
Chennai

The argument that file notings should not be excluded may be correct on the face of it. But in government departments, particularly the Central Secretariat, officers from the lowest level have the freedom to express their views on any matter referred to them. The disclosure of file notings may, therefore, discourage honest officials from expressing their views freely, particularly on sensitive matters. Sufficient safeguards need to be provided to them in this regard.

M. Venkataraman,
Chennai

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