Unexpected? Western regional meet objects to Gujarat order 'blacklisting' RTI applicants

Aruna Roy, Shailesh Gandhi

By Jag Jivan
Speaking at the western region consultation on the Right to Information (RTI) Act, whose two-day virtual session began on Thursday, Aruna Roy, formerly a member of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi-sponsored national advisory panel, has said that governments should recognise RTI has emerged as common citizens’ right to seek answers from authorities instead of seeing RTI pleas with suspicion.
A pioneer of the RTI movement in India, Roy objecting to recent orders of the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) which prohibited citizens from filing applications under the provisions of the RTI Act under the pretext that the applicants had repeatedly used RTI to pressurize government officials, insisting, the RTI Act “cannot be used as a tool for taking revenge”. She added, governments should actually encourage citizens to file RTI pleas.
Others taking part in the discussion also took exception to the GIC order to blacklist citizens, calling it “unexpected and shocking”, pointing out, a commission is expected to strengthen record keeping, digitalization and disclosures so that more and more information is put in the public domain.
Organised by the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), in which RTI users and activists from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat participated, Shailesh Gandhi, speaking at the session, former Central Information Commissioner, criticised a Supreme Court order on Section 8 of the RTI Act (disallowing all government information to be released for public), which he said is “not only harmfully impact the spirit of the law, but also are widely misused by public authorities across the country.”
Among those present at the consultation included Madhya Pradesh information commissioner Rahul Singh, who has been praised for taking up every appeals filed by women applicants on a priority basis, Rajasthan information commissioner Narayan Bareth. Singh underlined the need for a helpline where common citizens could approach for guidance on RTI. Bareth added, information commissions should not forget that citizens have a lot of hope on the commissions to protect and enhance transparency.
Vivek Velankar, an RTI activist from Maharashtra, said his RTI plea before banks to find out defaulters above Rs 100 crore revealed that many of them were defaulters in not one but several banks, and that the amount ran in “thousands of crores.”
Vineet, an RTI activist from Rajasthan, informed the meet that the Rajasthan Suchna portal carries information on 68 departments and over 130 schemes, including on MGNREGA, PDS, mining, pension, compensation, Covid-19 relief measures etc., and all information is provided in “real time.”
Santoshsinh Rathod, RTI activist from Ahmedabad, said, his fight for two years for disclosure of local area development funds by corporators finally ended fruitfully. It has resulted in Ahmedabad and Surat Municipal Corporations disclosing details on how much have corporators spent and where on the respective websites of the local bodies.

Comments

From Kerala to Bangladesh: Lynching highlights deep social faultlines

By A Representative The recent incidents of mob lynching—one in Bangladesh involving a Hindu citizen and another in Kerala where a man was killed after being mistaken for a “Bangladeshi”—have sparked outrage and calls for accountability.

What Sister Nivedita understood about India that we have forgotten

By Harasankar Adhikari In the idea of a “Vikshit Bharat,” many real problems—hunger, poverty, ill health, unemployment, and joblessness—are increasingly overshadowed by the religious contest between Hindu and Muslim fundamentalisms. This contest is often sponsored and patronised by political parties across the spectrum, whether openly Hindutva-oriented, Islamist, partisan, or self-proclaimed secular.

When a city rebuilt forgets its builders: Migrant workers’ struggle for sanitation in Bhuj

Khasra Ground site By Aseem Mishra* Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is not a privilege—it is a fundamental human right. This principle has been unequivocally recognised by the United Nations and repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court of India as intrinsic to the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. Yet, for thousands of migrant workers living in Bhuj, this right remains elusive, exposing a troubling disconnect between constitutional guarantees, policy declarations, and lived reality.

Aravalli at the crossroads: Environment, democracy, and the crisis of justice

By Rajendra Singh* The functioning of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has undergone a troubling shift. Once mandated to safeguard forests and ecosystems, the Ministry now appears increasingly aligned with industrial interests. Its recent affidavit before the Supreme Court makes this drift unmistakably clear. An institution ostensibly created to protect the environment now seems to have strayed from that very purpose.

'Festive cheer fades': India’s housing market hits 17‑quarter slump, sales drop 16% in Q4 2025

By A Representative Housing sales across India’s nine major real estate markets fell to a 17‑quarter low in the October–December period of 2025, with overall absorption dropping 16% year‑on‑year to 98,019 units, according to NSE‑listed analytics firm PropEquity. This marks the weakest quarter since Q3 2021, despite the festive season that usually drives demand. On a sequential basis, sales slipped 2%, while new launches contracted by 4%.

Safety, pay and job security drive Urban Company gig workers’ protest in Gurugram

By A Representative Gig and platform service workers associated with Urban Company have stepped up their protest against what they describe as exploitative and unsafe working conditions, submitting a detailed Memorandum of Demands at the company’s Udyog Vihar office in Gurugram. The action is being seen as part of a wider and growing wave of dissatisfaction among gig workers across India, many of whom have resorted to demonstrations, app log-outs and strikes in recent months to press for fair pay, job security and basic labour protections.

India’s universities lag global standards, pushing students overseas: NITI Aayog study

By Rajiv Shah A new Government of India study, Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations , prepared by NITI Aayog , regrets that India’s lag in this sector is the direct result of “several systemic challenges such as inadequate infrastructure to provide quality education and deliver world-class research, weak industry–academia collaboration, and outdated curricula.”

The rise of the civilizational state: Prof. Pratap Bhanu Mehta warns of new authoritarianism

By A Representative Noted political theorist and public intellectual Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta delivered a poignant reflection on the changing nature of the Indian state today, warning that the rise of a "civilizational state" poses a significant threat to the foundations of modern democracy and individual freedom. Delivering the Achyut Yagnik Memorial Lecture titled "The Idea of Civilization: Poison or Cure?" at the Ahmedabad Management Association, Mehta argued that India is currently witnessing a self-conscious political project that seeks to redefine the state not as a product of a modern constitution, but as an instrument of an ancient, authentic civilization.

Why experts say replacing MGNREGA could undo two decades of rural empowerment

By A Representative A group of scientists, academics, civil society organisations and field practitioners from India and abroad has issued an open letter urging the Union government to reconsider the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and to withdraw the newly enacted Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. The letter, dated December 27, 2025, comes days after the VB–G RAM G Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16 and subsequently approved by both Houses of Parliament, formally replacing the two-decade-old employment guarantee law.

Search This Blog