International Day for Universal Access to Information is being celebrated today, said Congress leader.
Suppression of facts by the government of any denomination is a direct affront to a vibrant democracy, said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and attacked the Centre and West Bengal Government for "negating the RTI Act to hide the truth".
"Suppression of facts by the government of any denomination is a direct affront to a vibrant democracy. Union government has been negating the RTI Act to hide the truth. Even State government of West Bengal is also fervently emulating the path of Union government by denying the right to the common men," the Congress leader tweeted.
"Charity should begin at home. I demand the state govt to issue a white paper on the COVID-19 pandemic situation that could be a precursor of transparency. Please do the same in regard to this historic day," he added.
"The International Day for Universal Access to Information is being celebrated today. I think that the epoch-making legislation of RTI Act conceived and passed during the UPA regime in India could be recognised as a befitting tribute to the essence of this day," Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury further said.
The Right to Information (RTI) Act was passed in the Parliament in 2005. It replaced the previous Freedom of Information Act, 2002. Under this act, any citizen of the country has the right to ask for any information from a public authority.