30 Jul 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: GOVERNANCE

1. We need to protect whistle blowers

Syllabus: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Prelims: Right to Information (RTI) Act

Mains: Challenges associated with the whistleblowers and RTI activists in India and key recommendations.

Context

This article discusses the state of protection for RTI activists and whistleblowers in the country.

Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 The Right to Information (RTI) Act was enacted in 2005 to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. This Act provided for the right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of the public authority. The Act also mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information.  The RTI gives the citizens the power to participate in the policymaking process and has played a key role in making public authorities accountable and transparent in their functioning.  RTI has been extensively used by various activists, lawyers, bureaucrats, researchers, and journalists. RTI is a remarkable example of participatory democracy. Read more about – Right to Information (RTI) Act

Challenges faced by RTI Activists and Whistleblowers

• There have been several instances of killing and harassment of RTI activists since the introduction of the RTI Act.
  • Bihar is among the top states with the highest number of deaths of RTI activists.
• These events of killings have raised questions about the protection of people who try to seek accountability and the responsibility of states to extend legal assistance, time-bound grievance redressal, compensation, and dignified access to justice to the families of those killed.
• RTI activists and whistleblowers have been actively working to bring transparency and accountability to the implementation of important social welfare schemes such as the Public Distribution System (PDS) and MGNREGA.
  • The killing of such activists will have severe consequences on the implementation of such programmes.
• The brutal killing of whistleblowers, intimidation of their families and the following inaction by the government and police have caused the RTI users to struggle for justice.
• Experts feel that these instances of killings of RTI users and activists are a threat to democracy itself.

Recommendations

• Introducing legal and institutional safeguards – there is a need for establishing a socio-legal system that recognises RTI activists and other whistleblowers as human rights defenders and extends protection to them.
• Disclosure of actionable information – it is known that the information sought by the deceased activists must have been discoloured compulsorily in the first place under Section 4 of the RTI Act.
  • State governments should make efforts to disclose such actionable information.
  • Rajasthan’s Jan Soochna portal and Karnataka’s Mahiti Kanaja are welcome steps in this regard.
• Timely action – the governments should command the law-enforcement agencies to act in a time-bound manner to complete investigations in all cases where RTI users are harassed and ensure that due compensations are extended to the families of victims.
• The disclosure of the requested information – fast-paced disclosure of information in case of harassment or killing of an activist will send a message to the perpetrators that such unwarranted action will result in greater public scrutiny.
• Effective legislation to protect whistleblowers – the government must act immediately and notify the proposed Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014.
  • States like Bihar and Maharashtra which have experienced a high number of such attacks must formulate their own act or legislations to safeguard whistleblowers.

Read more about Whistleblowing in India and the Whistle Blowers Protection Act in EPW week 2, 2019.

Nut graf: Acknowledging the crucial role played by the RTI activists and whistleblowers in unearthing corruption and mismanagement of public funds along with ensuring accountability in the functioning of public authorities, immediate measures are required to address the plight of activists and whistleblowers.

2. Token prohibition takes a toll in Gujarat

Syllabus: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Mains: Details about “hooch tragedy” in Gujarat, laws against the consumption of alcohol in the state and various issues and concerns associated with it.

Context

Several deaths are reported due to the consumption of poisonous country-made liquor in Gujarat.

Details

• Over 45 people have reportedly died in rural districts of Ahmedabad and Botad of Gujarat due to the consumption of hooch (country-made liquor) laced with chemicals. 
• The incident is also regarded as a “hooch tragedy” as about 75 people are still in hospitals taking treatment.
• The hooch is prepared by mixing water with methanol, which is a highly poisonous industrial solvent used in products such as paint thinners, pesticides and antifreeze products.

Previous such incidents in Gujarat A similar hooch tragedy was reported in Surat (2016) which caused the death of multiple migrant textile workers. In 2009, over 150 people died in Ahmedabad which is regarded as Gujarat’s worst hooch tragedy.  Other major tragedies include the death of 132 people in Vadodara and 32 in Viramgam, Ahmedabad in 1989 and over a hundred people in Ahmedabad in 1976.  According to reports, about 8-10 persons die due to the consumption of hooch in the State every year.

Concerns associated with the incident

• Such incidents and deaths will have severe socio-economic consequences on society as many of the victims are the sole breadwinners of their families.
  • The alcohol ban has encouraged the peddling of illegal and poisonous liquor which is made without any regulations.
  • Experts and villagers have raised questions about the alleged nexus between the various government officials and police with the people who run such bootleggers and local breweries.
• The villagers and daily wage labourers are encouraged to consume locally-brewed or self-brewed liquor that have harmful chemicals as they cannot afford Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and imported spirits.

Actions undertaken against the incident by the police and government

• The police investigations have revealed that the poisonous liquor was made and supplied from Chokdi village.
• The Police  have lodged FIRs under the State prohibition law and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which include:
  • IPC Section 302 – murder
  • IPC Section 328 – causing hurt by means of poison
  • Section 67 (1a) of the Gujarat Prohibition Act for adulteration of alcohol and preparing of hooch.
• However, Section 66 of the Prohibition Act has not been invoked in the FIRs as it would also book the victim for the consumption of liquor.
• Further, the State government has taken action against police officials by suspending and transferring various police officers.

Laws against the consumption of alcohol in Gujarat

• Gujarat is a “dry state” where manufacturing and the sale of liquor are banned. 
• The manufacture, consumption and sale of alcohol have been banned in the state of Gujarat since the 1960s and has few government-authorised liquor shops which permit consumers with “health permits” or “group permits” to purchase liquor.
• According to the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949, police can arrest an individual for purchasing, consuming, or serving alcohol without a valid permit and the act provides for the punishment of imprisonment for a period of three months to five years.
• The law also empowers the police to arrest persons entering from other States in a drunken state.
• Through an amendment in 2017, the police are empowered to arrest people who create a ruckus or harass others in a drunken state.
• Further, an amendment in 2009 made the manufacture, stocking and transportation of “laththa” (a countrymade brew) a capital offence if it resulted in the deaths of people who consumed it and can be punished with death or imprisonment for life.

Arguments against the prohibition law of the state

• Experts and critics call for a relook of the alcohol prohibition law of Gujarat as there has been a significant increase in the number of deaths caused due to the consumption of illicit and poisonous liquor.
• Critics also point out that the law has resulted in the piling up of prohibition-related cases in the courts which has increased the burden on the judiciary.
• Additionally, the experts believe that the tax collected from the sale of alcohol could be used to fund various welfare schemes for the poor and vulnerable, health and education.
• The removal of the prohibition will also help to curb the large-scale corruption which is taking place in the state involving police officials and politicians.
• Critics also opine that the law is against the individual’s right to choice of food and beverage and violates the right to privacy. 
• Further, the permits issued by the government on health grounds are mostly held by upper-middle-class citizens residing in the urban areas of the state and hence the people from village and rural areas are pushed towards hooch.

Nut graf: Gujarat is said to be the only State in the country to have prohibited the sale of alcohol since 1960. However, the prohibition law has resulted in an increase in the number of deaths due to the consumption of illegally manufactured country liquor and large-scale corruption in the state along with other key challenges which mandate the government to revisit the law.