Ajit Bhattacharjea

The National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) mourns the loss of yet another stalwart in Ajit Bhattacharjea, senior journalist and dear friend, who helped shape critically the campaign’s collective efforts to secure transparency and accountability in all institutions of public relevance.

The NCPRI took shape in 1996 with Ajit Bhattacharjea as an intrinsic part of the collective who, as chairperson of the Press Council of India, worked with Prabhash Joshi and justice P B Savant to draft the “Press Council draft” of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill. This draft became the basis of all future drafts of the RTI legislation in the states and the centre, including the national RTI Act (2005). Diligently and unfailingly Ajit Bhattacharjea supported, lobbied and actively sought the passage of the RTI legislation in states and the centre for close to two decades. Never one to miss the value of the grass-roots lessons that the RTI campaign evolved from, he cherished the common person’s experience and political common sense and his work and writings reflected this commitment to the end. We salute the passing of a comrade and draw inspiration from his life to continue our struggles for a just, equitable, transparent and accountable society.