‘Former PM interacted with media just 204 times’
17 Oct 2014 5:43 AM IST
In an interesting revelation, an RTI application by a student of Delhi University has found that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh interacted with media or issued statements (electronic and print)just 204 times from 24 May 2004 to 30 May, 2013.
Himadrish Suwan, a first year student of Political Science, who filed the RTI said he was ‘curious’ to know about it since he was often called as ‘silent Prime Minister’ by media. ‘I was just curious to know how many times did our former prime minister interacted with media, which often termed him as a silent prime minister by many,’ Suwan said.
He further added that he found the reply ‘amusing’. ‘The reply was quite amusing because when former PM just spoke one line in a response to a journalist’s question, it was marked as speech by Prime Minister’s Officer,’ said Suwan.
Himadrish Suwan recently bagged International Young Achievers’ Award. The award was given by the International Association of Educators for World Peace, affiliated to united Nations Economic and Social Council.
Filing RTI since 2012, he has, so far filed 100 of them. ‘I believe RTI is a tool to change things. 16 coaches of Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express got changed because of my RTI. Earlier, the train had conventional coaches, which were later replaced with coaches actually meant for Rajdhani trains’, he claimed.
Expressing concerns over the safety of whistleblowers he said there no proper guidelines to protect an RTI activists. ‘The number of RTIs filed have drastically reduced since not protection is given by the government’, he added.
Himadrish Suwan, a first year student of Political Science, who filed the RTI said he was ‘curious’ to know about it since he was often called as ‘silent Prime Minister’ by media. ‘I was just curious to know how many times did our former prime minister interacted with media, which often termed him as a silent prime minister by many,’ Suwan said.
He further added that he found the reply ‘amusing’. ‘The reply was quite amusing because when former PM just spoke one line in a response to a journalist’s question, it was marked as speech by Prime Minister’s Officer,’ said Suwan.
Himadrish Suwan recently bagged International Young Achievers’ Award. The award was given by the International Association of Educators for World Peace, affiliated to united Nations Economic and Social Council.
Filing RTI since 2012, he has, so far filed 100 of them. ‘I believe RTI is a tool to change things. 16 coaches of Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express got changed because of my RTI. Earlier, the train had conventional coaches, which were later replaced with coaches actually meant for Rajdhani trains’, he claimed.
Expressing concerns over the safety of whistleblowers he said there no proper guidelines to protect an RTI activists. ‘The number of RTIs filed have drastically reduced since not protection is given by the government’, he added.
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