NAC member Aruna Roy criticises PM’s call for review of RTI

National Advisory Council (NAC) member and one of the architects of the RTI Act, Aruna Roy, slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's comments that there was concern in the government about the misuse of the act, which needed ''an in-depth review.''

''The prime minister has made a statement that I completely disagree with,'' said Roy while addressing a seminar on the role of RTI, in Panaji.  ''Efforts to dilute and weaken the RTI Act by the prime minister or anybody else have to be resisted at any cost, by writing letters or staging dharnas or by other means.''

Roy, who is seen to be close to Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress, and the chief of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), has been a stern critic of the Manmohan Singh government.

''I'm much more concerned about the lives of RTI activists being killed. What have you done to protect our lives?'' Roy demanded.

Addressing a two-day national convention of the Central Information Commission in New Delhi on Saturday, Singh had said RTI should not affect the deliberative process of the government (See: RTI Act prone to misuse, suggests PM)

The prime minister said there was concern that the RTI could end up discouraging honest, well-meaning public servants from giving full expression to their views. Roy, however, stoutly denied that was the case.