Sonia Gandhi joins list of opposition leaders raising questions about RTI.
UPA Chairperson and Congress Legislative Party chief in Parliament Sonia Gandhi has slammed the amendments in RTI bill which was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday. Sonia Gandhi in a strongly worded statement has said that is it matter of concern that Centre is 'hell bent on completely subverting' the RTI act. She claimed that the law which was brought after much consultation in the UPA era is now ' in the brink of extinction'. Slamming the Centre, Gandhi said, "It's clear that the present Central Govt sees the RTI Act as a nuisance & wants to destroy the status & independence of the Central Information Commission which was put on par with the Central Election Commission and Central Vigilance Commission.The Central Government may use its legislative majority to achieve its aims but in the process it would be disempowering each and every citizen of our country."
The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the bill, amid objections by the opposition which alleged that it was an attempt to undermine the law and make the transparency panel a "toothless tiger". The Central Information Commission, which deals with the central government, is headed by the Chief Information Commissioner with 10 more members called information commissioners. They are chosen by a panel comprising the prime minister, the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha and a member of the Union Cabinet.
The RTI Act 2005 gives them a fixed tenure of five years or till reaching the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. Their salary and allowances are also at par with the election commissioners.The amendments will allow the government to prescribe the term of office, salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the CIC and information commissioners on a case-to-case basis.First chief information commissioner of the country Wajahat Habibullah said that statutorily protected tenure and terms of service of information commissioners were crucial to allow them to work without fear or favour.
With PTI inputs
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