RTI Act 20th anniversary: Congress warns against its erosion
Bengaluru (PTI): Marking the 20th anniversary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Congress on Sunday reaffirmed the party's commitment to protect and strengthen the law, calling it one of the "greatest democratic reforms" of modern India and warned that its erosion amounts to an erosion of democracy itself.
In a statement, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the historic RTI Act came into being on October 12, 2005, during the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh.
The Act was a milestone in empowering citizens to access information, ensuring transparency and accountability in governance, and acting as a lifeline for the most marginalised sections of society.
However, since 2014, he said, “RTI has been consistently eroded.”
The 2019 amendments “weakened independence and increased executive influence” by giving the Union Government control over the tenure and service conditions of Information Commissioners.
“RTI has been one of the greatest democratic reforms of modern India, enabling citizens to hold power accountable and its erosion is an erosion of democracy itself,” said Shivakumar, also the Congress state chief.
Further, the 2023 Digital Personal Data Protection Act broadened the scope of ‘personal information’, effectively turning it into an absolute exemption from disclosure.
“By treating critical public data as private, this undermines public audit and scrutiny,” the note added.
The Deputy CM also flagged the weakening of Central and State Information Commissions, pointing out that the Central Commission currently has only two members against a sanctioned strength of 11, and that as of June 2024, over 4.05 lakh appeals and complaints were pending nationwide.
“No answers were given when RTIs sought details on the PM’s foreign tours or the functioning of the PM CARES Fund,” it observed.
The note highlighted attacks on RTI activists, including the killings of Shehla Masood and Satish Shetty, and criticised the non-implementation of the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, calling it a 'deliberate refusal' by the government.
Reiterating RTI’s role as a way of constitutional and social empowerment, the Congress demanded restoration of Information Commissions’ independence, amendment of DPDP Act provisions, filling of vacancies, performance reporting, protection for RTI users and whistleblowers, and inclusion of journalists, activists, and women in Commissions.
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Not UN’s role to regulate AI, says Guterres as world body plans annual global dialogue
United Nations (PTI): It is not the UN’s role to regulate AI, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has emphasised as he pointed to an annual global dialogue being planned at the international organisation on AI with participation from all countries, governments, private sector as well as civil society.
Guterres will soon be arriving in New Delhi to attend the India AI Impact Summit, the first-ever summit on Artificial Intelligence hosted in the Global South.
In an exclusive interview to PTI ahead of his visit to India for the Summit, Guterres outlined efforts by the international organisation aimed at global cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (AI), emphasising that these are “perfectly in line” with the strategy demonstrated by India in its leadership of the AI summit.
Guterres highlighted three key areas under the Global Digital Compact initiated at the UN to contribute towards the global AI architecture.
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The first is the creation of a new high-level Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence comprising 40 experts from around the world.
The UN General Assembly last week appointed the 40 members recommended by Guterres to the independent panel.
Head of the Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) at IIT Madras Balaraman Ravindran is among the global group of 40 distinguished experts recommended by Guterres to serve on the panel for a three-year term from date of appointment.
Guterres said that through the panel, “We will have a totally independent and universal…scientific body (that will be) able to tell the world at each moment where are we in relation to AI? What are the advances that were made? What are the discoveries that were established? What are the risks of (various) mechanisms or instruments, and to do it in a totally independent way.”
He described this as a “fantastic source” of information for governments to take the right decisions in policies and measures in relation to AI and “for the people at large to know public opinions, in democratic countries like India that is very important.”
Guterres also pointed to an annual global dialogue being planned at the UN on AI with participation from all countries, governments, private sector as well as civil society.
Emphasising that it is not the UN’s role to regulate AI, Guterres said the global dialogue will be a “platform where everybody can come and everybody can discuss, and where we can learn with each other and eventually come to some possible consensus on the best way to maximise the opportunities of AI and minimise its risks.”
Lastly, he expressed hope that his proposal of a fund will be approved.
“There was an agreement in the General Assembly in order to support developing countries to build capacity to be able to benefit from AI. So these are three very important contributions of the UN and I believe that these contributions are perfectly in line with the strategy that India has demonstrated in the leadership in the preparation of the present Summit,” he said.
The UN chief has proposed a voluntary global fund of up to three billion dollars to support countries in the field of AI capacity building.
The Global Digital Compact, adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future, had set out a shared vision for an open, safe and inclusive digital future.
Among its commitments was the creation of an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI to advance scientific understanding and ensure that international deliberations are informed by the best available evidence, the UN has said.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, told reporters that Guterres is scheduled to participate in the Summit’s opening ceremony, a plenary with heads of state and government, as well as a session on the role of science in international AI governance.
The Secretary-General will have bilateral meetings with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will also meet with other global and tech leaders attending the Summit, as well as members of the International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
While in India, Guterres is also scheduled to take part in a roundtable organised by the UN to discuss renewable energy and energy transition.
"With India emerging as a global leader in renewable energy expansion, the discussion will bring together senior figures from industry, finance, policy and civil society to identify concrete steps to further accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen grids and storage, and mobilise investment at scale.
“This engagement is part of the Secretary-General’s continued efforts to advance a faster, fairer and more inclusive global energy transition, aligned with the Paris Agreement,” Dujarric said.
United Nations India said in a statement that over 30 events organised by the UN system are scheduled during the five-day summit, and will include sessions on AI for resilient agriculture, health systems innovation, ethical AI governance, women’s leadership in technology, digital capacity-building in the Global South and responsible business practices.
The statement by the UN in India said that discussions will focus on “how AI can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals while safeguarding human rights and addressing emerging risks”.
At the Summit, Guterres will be joined by senior UN leaders, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk; Under-Secretary-General and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Kamal Kishore.
Also participating are Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva; Director-General of the International Labour Organisation Gilbert Houngbo and Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
