Congress advocates RTI on Corporate Sector

The Congress has floated the idea of bringing the corporate sector under the Right to Information Act (RTI) for total transparency. An editorial in the latest issue of the party's mouthpiece Congress Sandesh circulated at its plenary here on Sunday says that the RTI has empowered every citizen to have an access in the corridors of the government and now it should be turn of the corporate sector.

" There is growing demand that a similar mechanism for the corporate corridors should be created so that the concept of total transparency could be achieved.... When a country progresses, the fruit of its growth must reach to the most weaker sections of the society," says the editorial.

It goes on to assert that " when industry flourishes, labourers also have a right to share the smile." It says the forces behind the market- driven economy must understand that Congress is committed to working with trade unions and industry to ensure that the regulatory framework in the labour sector is conducive to both employment generation generation and workers' welfare.

" Democracy demands equal rights for every sector and political parties are there to strengthen the democratic values. There are issues which impinge on our quest for inclusive growth.... It is important that the gains of enhanced productivity are equitably shared among shareholders, workers and consumers at large," the editorial added.

Though it is an unsigned editorial, it is the Congress President who usually writes the editorial in the party mouthpiece and hence observers say it conveys Sonia Gandhi's wish to the government to make the corporate functioning open and transparent.