This February, the Indian State of Karnataka hosted the Constitution and National Unity Conference in Bangalore to honor the 75th anniversary of the Indian Constitution and discuss threats to India’s young democracy. The conference featured 20 panels open to around 3,000 attendees, and several closed-door sessions, including a roundtable workshop on whistleblower protection.
One major primary goal of the whistleblower workshop was to expand the definition of whistleblowing. According to advocates, the definition of a whistleblower must encompass all of those who are exposing and fighting against the arbitrary use of power: (1) the conventional whistleblowers, or “insiders,” (2) Right to Information users, (3) human rights defenders and journalists (4) environmental defenders, and (5) social audit participants.
In this exclusive series, WNN reports on efforts within India to incorporate each of these categories within a whistleblower protection law that is on the horizon.
