How Modi government's proposed amendments could destroy the RTI Act

Amendment seeks to control salaries and tenures of Information Commissioners

The Narendra Modi government's proposed amendments to the Right to Information Act have confirmed the worst fears of opposition parties and activists. The Modi government has set out to erode the autonomy of the central and state information commissioners.

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018, circulated among the Members of Parliament, seeks to remove the statutory safeguards in place to ensure the independence of information commissioners at the Centre and in the states.

Currently, the salaries and tenures of information commissioners, both at the Centre and in the states, are statutorily protected and at par with those of the Chief Election