Information Bill soon

By Barun Das Gupta

GUWAHATI, SEPT. 25. The long-promised `Assam Right to Information Bill' will be introduced in the State Assembly in the eight-day session beginning next Thursday. The Bill is the brain child of the Chief Minister, Mr. Tarun Gogoi. It is not just an electoral promise of the Congress. Even while it was in the Opposition, it had repeatedly said that once voted to power, it would make the right to information justifiable in order to make governance transparent.

According to the draft Bill, information means and includes information on any matter concerning the affairs of the administration or decisions of the State Government or any Public Authority, except such information the publication of which is prohibited by any law or notification of the State Government.

Incidentally, for the first time in recent memory, there is no Leader of the Opposition in the House. According to the rules of the Assembly, the Leader of the Opposition party which has one- sixth of the total number of members, will be entitled to the office and privileges of the Leader of the Opposition who enjoys the status of a Cabinet minister.

With 20 members, the main Opposition party, the AGP, is just one short of the requisite strength of 21 in a House of 126. The Chief Minister, Mr. Gogoi, who has just been elected to the Assembly from Titabor, will be sworn in as a member of the House, along with his party colleague, Dr. Kalyan Gogoi, winner of the Dibrugarh seat, on the first day. Their election raises the Congress strength to 71.

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Section  : Other States
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