Right to Information (RTI) activists from Pune came together on Sunday and formed an RTI council to serve as a repository of information obtained by various activists.
“Once the information obtained by anyone under the RTI is available with a council, there will be less threat to an individual’s life,” said Vivek Velankar, an RTI activist, while speaking to journalists after a public meeting to demand justice for the murdered RTI crusader Satish Shetty.
“Satish was killed because he obtained valuable information,which, if put in the public domain, would have exposed the wrongdoings of influential people,” he said. “Applications requesting information and the information itself will henceforth be put up on a website so that it is not in the safekeeping of a single person, putting his life at risk.”
“Right now, there are 10 volunteers who have agreed to be a part of the council,” he said. “They are from Pune. But we are not opposed to opening up the council at the national level too.”
On the same lines, activists decided to demand the State government to chalk out a Whistleblower Protection Act. Activists also agreed that the most important thing now was to complete the cases Shetty was working on.
Mr. Kumbhar said, “We will also demand suitable amendments in the Indian Penal Code to ensure that contract killers and people who hire them are awarded the capital punishment.”