8216;CIC decision can have far-reaching fallout8217;

Newly inducted National Advisory Council NAC member Virginius Xaxa has said bringing political parties within the ambit of the Right to Information Act RTI is a complex issue that can have several far-reaching implications and may be used by vested interests.

Newly inducted National Advisory Council NAC member Virginius Xaxa has said bringing political parties within the ambit of the Right to Information Act RTI is a complex issue that can have several far-reaching implications and may be used by vested interests.

Xaxa,a former Delhi University professor who is currently with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS in Guwahati,was nominated to the NAC after Aruna Roy decided to opt out of the body.

Bringing political parties under RTI is a very complex issue. While there definitely needs to be transparency in finances and funding and to some extent it is good if political parties open up,one can also visualise the problems parties are likely to face, Xaxa told The Indian Express.

Since they are addressing the entire country and not just a given limited set like other institutions,the deluge of RTI requests could stress them out significantly with them not having adequate capacity or space to deal with the applications. Further,information can be used by vested interests and hence,bringing political parties under RTI in a blanket manner has far-reaching implications.

He was referring to the recent order by the Central Information Commission CIC bringing political parties under the purview of RTI.

Activist Roy and her organisation Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan had welcomed the decision claiming it would lead to transparency in functioning of parties,while admitting a nuanced deliberation may be needed on some aspects. Activists behind the RTI campaign,including Roy,have been pushing for political parties to be brought under the Act.

On the issue of Naxalism,Xaxa said while such extreme violence as seen in the recent Chhattisgarh attack gives signals of terrorism,it would be simplistic to label Maoists as terrorists. The recent attack was no doubt a massacre but this is a very complex issue. We cannot just say all Maoists are terrorists8230;. We cant merely treat them as terrorists. The challenge is to contain them on one hand while addressing genuine grievances and concerns of tribals on the other.

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After the May 25 massacre in Bastar,Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had said Maoists are terrorists since they spread terror.

According to Xaxa,Naxalism as of now is mostly concentrated in tribal areas and the root cause of this has been the discontentment in these areas.

Asserting that the Indian state must send out a strong signal that it means business,Xaxa says while the governments two-track approach of development alongside security is the only option,it may have not been effective so far.

Originally from Chhattisgarh,Xaxa has been raised in north Bengal and is an expert on agrarian social structure,development as well as tribal studies.