The National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) has been involved in developing and advocating for a series of anti-corruption and accountability legislative framework to tackle corruption and arbitrary use of power in the country and ensure effective redress of grievances. The legislations include the Lokpal & Lokayuktas Act, the Whistle Blowers’ Protection law and a legislation for Grievance Redress.
The Whistle Blowers’ Protection law was passed by Parliament and received the assent of the President on May 9, 2014. The law was passed after a sustained campaign by people to demand an effective mechanism to protect those who expose corruption and wrongdoing. The NCPRI along with families of whistleblowers who were killed, had been advocating for the law for several years. In 2014, during the last session of the outgoing Parliament, a sustained dharna (sit in) of over 25 days was held in Delhi to demand the passage of the whistleblowers protection law.
However, the Act has not been operationalised till date (April 2022) as the government has failed to promulgate the necessary rules for it.
The Whistle Blowers’ Protection Act
Note on the Whistle Blowers Protection Legislation
In 2015, the government introduced a bill to amend the Whistle Blower’s Protection Act which severely diluted several key provisions of the Act.