Youth Congress workers protest against weakening of RTI Act

Hundreds of Youth Congress workers on Saturday took to streets here to protest against the Central government for allegedly diluting the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

"BJP government has always attempted to take away the powers of institutions which have been pillars of the Constitution of India. In the last five years, the BJP government has attempted to take power from different institutions like the Supreme Court, the CBI and the RBI," read a press statement issued by the Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress (DPYC).

"The RTI Act, 2005 was brought by the UPA government which gave rights to the citizens of India to question the government. However, it is been diluted by the current government by bringing the Amendment Bill, 2019," it said.

Youth Congress workers were stopped at Raisina Road. Many Youth Congress activists were detained by the Delhi Police.

Even Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP government of helping the corrupt by diluting the Right to Information (RTI) Act through the Amendment Bill, 2019.

"Government is diluting RTI in order to help the corrupt steal from India. Strange that the normally vociferous anti-corruption crowd has suddenly disappeared. #GovtMurdersRTI," he tweeted.

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Bill after an acrimonious debate and Opposition walkout amidst uproarious scenes with the government rejecting a strong demand for greater scrutiny and managing the support of parties outside the NDA fold.

The Bill was passed after rejecting several amendments and motions seeking to refer the Bill to a Select Committee of Parliament. As many as 117 members voted against the opposition motion while 75 members voted in its favour. YSRCP, BJD, and TRS also voted with the government.

The Bill seeks to empower the Centre to make rules to decide the tenure, salary, allowances and other terms of service of the Information Commissioners of the Central Information Commission and also of State Information Commissions.

The Lok Sabha on Monday had passed the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 after a heated debate and pandemonium by the Opposition members over the autonomy of the legislation.

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh had clarified that the Bill was not intended to curtail the autonomy of RTI Act.