Viswanathan highlighted that Right to Information Act (RTI Act) and the press can play an important role in brining greater transparency and accountability to the Governor’s office.
He suggested that Governors’ work can be scrutinised by making RTI mandatorily put on the website by certain mechanisms so that they are subject to public approbate and the press.
“Make it somehow mandatory to put it on the website, the RTI power so that he is subject to public approbate and the press…maybe some part (of press) is compromised but we have an independent press and if they take it up and expose the Governor,” he said.
He maintained that the office of a Governor is an important one but making his functions more transparent would be the way forward.
“I think unfortunately there is lot of opaqueness around his functions. If it is brought out and he has this fear that he would be named and shamed, then there would be genuine empires of democracy. I think that is the way to go about this office. It is a necessary office, an important office but we need incumbency to manage moral fibre who have genuine democratic concern in mind. It is not that we have not had it, we have had exceptional people. I think way forward is this,” he said.
Source: Barandbench
