Parliamentarians join the chorus against RTI Act amendment

Leaders cutting across party lines on Monday slammed the Centre's move to amend the Right to Information Act, saying it is an attack on the independence of the transparency panel.

Speaking at an event held to oppose the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said such a move will kill the spirit of RTI.

"This is an attack on the federal structure. The central government has the entire power and most of the information (under RTI) is sought from the government. You are colouring the entire process. It is like killing the spirit of RTI," he said.

Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda said his party will oppose the proposed amendments and accused the Modi government of trying to weaken ant-corruption laws.

"The RTI Act was brought under the UPA tenure and it was given an important place. The Act had given people the right to expose corruption in government. The government is trying to weaken anti-corruption laws by using 'Chanakya neeti'," he said.

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to give the government powers to fix salaries, tenures and other terms and conditions of employment of information commissioners.

Gowda said if the government will get the freedom to fix the tenure of RTI commissioners, their power will be weakened.

"Congress is against the amendments. In Lok Sabha, we cannot do much because the government is in majority. But in Rajya Sabha, we will bring a resolution and demand that a Standing Committee or Select Committee look into it," he said.

Wajahat Habibullah, the country's first chief information commissioner, also disapproved of the central government's move to amend the RTI Act.

"If the people who bring information to you are scared to tell the truth, how will the information reach you?
"... The government has repeatedly said that it wants to establish a corruption-free society. However, if they really want to do this, what is the need to amend the RTI Act?