BHOPAL : A delegation of the whistleblowers of Vyapam scam called on Congress national president Sonia Gandhi and the party national vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and discussed the NDA government’s initiatives for amendment in Whistleblowers Protection Act.
This amendment bill is creating a huge area of exemptions for the state authorities to stay out of reach of whistleblowers. The original Whistleblowers Protection Act, although passed in 2011, is not yet operational because its rules have not been framed.
As per the whistleblowers, genuine concerns over national security can be addressed without compromising the purpose and strength of the Whistleblowers Protection Act. The Act could put in place specific mechanisms to ensure that sensitive information is not leaked to the public – such as making sure complaints of the whistleblower go straight to a judicial officer in a sealed envelope.
What must not be compromised under any circumstances is the right of a whistleblower to avail of protection. Whistleblowers in any society take on the severest of personal risks and often make unprecedented sacrifices in order to safeguard the rights of their fellow citizens from corruption and other forms of maladministration in public institutions.
RTI activist Ajay Dubey said, “The main intension of the NDA regime is to dilute the Whistleblower Act which the UPA had formed. And now action will be taken against the whistleblowers if it is found incorrect. So ultimately, the main object is to discourage the whistleblowers. The government wants clearance of a bill to amend the Whistleblowers Protection Act of 2011 in the Lok Sabha, but if the bill is passed, there may not be many whistleblowers to protect in the future. The intension of amendment is to dissuade anyone from blowing the lid off corruption in the government or bureaucracy.”
