16, Oct 2015

Oct 16, 2015 | AGE CORRESPONDENT With agency inputs| New Delhi
Several leading RTI activists, including Aruna Roy, will boycott the opening ceremony of the annual Central Information Commission convention which will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 16.
The activists — including Lokesh Batra, Venkatesh Nayak, Anjali Bhardwaj and Nikhil Dey, who were invited for the convention, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the transparency law — announced their boycott plans after the authorities restricted the invitations to some activists citing security reasons, agencies reported.
In an unusual action, the CIC has expressed inability to invite a larger number of activists and even its own staff, news agency PTI said.
The activists have in the past been an integral part of the CIC event where the Prime Minister or the President attended the opening or valedictory session. Only once, neither of the two top dignitaries was able to attend following which the then law minister Veerappa Moily had addressed the gathering.