Govt drops plan to amend RTI Act for now

NEW DELHI: The government has dropped the move to amend the Right to Information Act in the current session of Parliament to keep out of public purview file notings in some areas.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri said here that following a decision taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the amendment bill was not likely to be introduced in the current session Parliament concluding on July 25.

He said there have been considerable apprehensions about the proposed changes and clarifications in the Right to Information Act.  Congress Presient Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister have received several representations in this regard and it has been decided that the issue should be first discussed with all stakeholders, he said.

In view of this, Pachauri said, the bill to amend the RTI Act was not likely to be introduced during the current session of Parliament as decided by the Prime Minister.