PUNE: Civic society groups have said the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) should comply with the RTIAct and make copies of the Development Plan (DP) public.

"We are unhappy that only select people have access to the draft DP proposal, while the public at large is kept in the dark. The PMC claimed it was in the best interest of the city not to publicize the plan and that it had only been shared with the City Improvement Committee (CIC).

This claim proved bogus when an RTI activist recently leaked the draft Development Control (DC) Rules, clearly showing that the plan was, in fact, being circulated. This has raised serious questions about vested interests at work, while the public is denied the right to this same information," stated the press release issued by civic groups on Friday.

The groups include Parisar, Shelter Associates, Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, Pune Cycle Pratishthan, PMP Pravasi Manch, National Societies for Clean Cities, etc.

"The draft DP proposal was given to the CIC in December 2011. It was always assumed that the draft DP was to be kept a secret and not to be shared with the public for sensitivity of reservations. However, with the advent of the 2005 RTI Act, it is now mandatory for a public authority to make all information, documents, minutes of meetings and decisions available to the public. By default, everything is public unless it is explicitly excluded under one of the clauses of section 8 of the RTI Act," said the groups.

Members of the groups negated PMC's claims that the "proposal" to the CIC is only a pre-draft and since it contains sensitive information, it cannot be made public. "The Hon'ble Delhi high court in a recent ruling, related to the Dr Madhav Gadgil Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, categorically stated that no document can be denied on the grounds of it being a draft and that widespread public consultations are essential and it can only help strengthen public policies and keep vested interests at bay," stated thegroups' press release.

The press release said while the PMC will have to comply with the statutory 30-day period of public scrutiny as per Section 26 of the (amended) MR&TP Act, it must also make public the proposal as required by the Right to Information Act, especially given the inordinate delays in the preparation of the plan and the possibility this raises of influence by vested interests, who clearly already have access to it.

Releasing this document to the public will allow greater and meaningful participation of the public and ensure that any chance of "behind the door" deals will be nipped in the bud.