Amendments will make RTI Act useless, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked the BJP government over proposed changes to the Right to Information Act, saying the will make the current law useless.

The proposed amendments, distributed among the Members of Parliament, seek to do away with the parity given to information commissions with the Election Commission in terms of salary, conditions of service and allowances, RTI activists have said.

“Every Indian deserves to know the truth and the BJP wants to hide the truth. The BJP believes the truth must be hidden from the people and they must not question people in power. The changes proposed to the RTI will make it a useless Act,” Gandhi said on Twitter.

Every Indian has the right to know the truth. The BJP believes the truth must be hidden from the people and they must not question people in power. The changes proposed to the RTI will make it a useless Act. They must be opposed by every Indian. #SaveRTI pic.twitter.com/4mjBTwQnYK

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 19, 2018

He further said that the changes being suggested “must be opposed by every Indian”.

Gandhi went on to tag a letter by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, which has challenged the changes on grounds that they weaken the independence of information commissions.

The government on Wednesday said it is considering a proposal to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, to solidify rules on salaries and other amenities.

A notice of intention was circulated to introduce ‘The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018’ in the Rajya Sabha, Minister State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written statement to Lok Sabha on Wednesday.