RTI activists to boycott Modi address at RTI Convention on Friday

Several prominent activists on Thursday said they would boycott Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inaugural address at the annual Right to Information (RTI) convention tomorrow, as only a few of them have been invited.

"People who have an important role to play in using and protecting RTI are being left out of the process. The invites have gone out to a few people and the most important left out," Anjali Bhardwaj, one of the activists, said.

"The RTI Act has been owned up by people across the country. There are more than eight million RTI acts filed every year. Now, if in this situation the Central Government is holding a convention where it is not inviting members of the civil society, then, it is a issue of great concern," she added.

Another activist Nikhil Dey described the non-invite as 'an unfortunate step for democracy', and added that activists have always helped any government with suggestions on running the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 10th annual convention of the Central Information Commission, which is a congregation of RTI activists who discuss issues related to the implementation of the transparency law across the country.