prasad1
Active member
More than 40 whistleblowers have been threatened, attacked or murdered so far, but the government continues to drag its feet on the Whistleblowers Protection Act which got Presidential approval in May and awaits notification of rules.
"Since the time the act was passed by Parliament, at least three more people have been allegedly killed for exposing corruption. These whistleblowers could have been afforded protection had the act been enforced," Anjali Bhardwaj, National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) member said.
The NCPRI has now written to the PM and minister for personnel, public grievances and pensions Jitendra Singh urging that the issue be taken up with urgency. The NCPRI has even drafted model rules for the act which was passed in Parliament in 2014 after a sustained campaign by the NGO and families of slain whistleblowers. Activists fear that any further delay could endanger more lives.
*Seventy-year-old RTI activist Mangat Tyagi, was allegedly murdered in April 2014 in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh for exposing corruption in public works. He had filed around 14,000 requests for information under the RTI Act in a bid to expose corruption and was shot dead outside his village by three assailants.
*Chandra Mohan Sharma, aged 38, had filed over 300 requests for information regarding encroachments on government land, costs for building government roads, the functioning of residents' welfare associations and allotment of land by the government. His body was recovered from his car near his house in Greater Noida in May 2014; both he and the vehicle were badly charred.
*RTI activist Sanjay Tyagi was shot dead in Meerut on May 25, 2014 following which a case of murder against unknown persons was registered.
Earlier this month, chief conservation officer Sunil Upadhyay disappeared after he had raised inconvenient questions about the misuse of public funds and disappearance of artefacts at Kolkata's Indian Museum.
Centre sits on Whistleblower Act as toll soars - The Times of India
"Since the time the act was passed by Parliament, at least three more people have been allegedly killed for exposing corruption. These whistleblowers could have been afforded protection had the act been enforced," Anjali Bhardwaj, National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) member said.
The NCPRI has now written to the PM and minister for personnel, public grievances and pensions Jitendra Singh urging that the issue be taken up with urgency. The NCPRI has even drafted model rules for the act which was passed in Parliament in 2014 after a sustained campaign by the NGO and families of slain whistleblowers. Activists fear that any further delay could endanger more lives.
*Seventy-year-old RTI activist Mangat Tyagi, was allegedly murdered in April 2014 in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh for exposing corruption in public works. He had filed around 14,000 requests for information under the RTI Act in a bid to expose corruption and was shot dead outside his village by three assailants.
*Chandra Mohan Sharma, aged 38, had filed over 300 requests for information regarding encroachments on government land, costs for building government roads, the functioning of residents' welfare associations and allotment of land by the government. His body was recovered from his car near his house in Greater Noida in May 2014; both he and the vehicle were badly charred.
*RTI activist Sanjay Tyagi was shot dead in Meerut on May 25, 2014 following which a case of murder against unknown persons was registered.
Earlier this month, chief conservation officer Sunil Upadhyay disappeared after he had raised inconvenient questions about the misuse of public funds and disappearance of artefacts at Kolkata's Indian Museum.
Centre sits on Whistleblower Act as toll soars - The Times of India
