In the wake of Central Information Commission (CIC) ruling that political parties should be brought under the ambit of Right to Information Act (RTI), civil society members have demanded that political parties designate chief public information officers (CPIOs) and appellate authorities at their headquarters.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Election Watch state convener VV Rao, U-FERWAS president Rao Chelikani, Praja Alochana Vedika convener Gopal Rao and Aam Aadmi Party state convener K Ramesh Reddy said that with the CIC full bench ruling that parties should come under the the purview of the RTI Act it became mandatory for political parties to disclose information. Rao said political parties were saying that as they were filing income tax returns to the income tax department and submitting Annual Contribution Reports to the Election Commission there was no need to disclose information under the RTI Act. “But the fact remains that there are several issues on which one may want to have information about the donors to political parties, the criteria for selection of candidates for parliamentary and Assembly elections, the government facilities they are receiving and so on.”He said parties lacked transparency on how much they received and how much they spent and how. At present, they are not disclosing the sources of funds in their IT returns and submissions to the EC.
All the political parties, irrespective of their size, come under the RTI Act. Many parties such as the Lok Satta Party and Aam Aadmi Party have welcomed the CIC ruling and are willing to disclose their details,’’ Rao said.
