OPPN FIGHTS TO SAVE AUTONOMY UNDER RTI ACT

The Opposition and activists are up in arms against a bill being pushed through the Rajya Sabha in the current monsoon session to erode autonomy and independence of the mechanism created under the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005.

The Bill seeks to remove the statutory safeguards in place to ensure the independence of the information commissioners at the Centre and in the states by removing their fixed 5-year tenure and salaries at par with those of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners.

Sensing the Opposition determined to defeat the Bill, the government on Thursday offered in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) to send it to the House Select Committee for examination to bring it in the next session. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu insisted that the Bill be first introduced as he will then heed to its reference to the select committee.

The Bill states that henceforth the information commissioners, both at the Centre and in the states, "shall hold office for such term as may be prescribed by the Central Government instead of five years." Another amendment says: "The salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Information Commissioner and the Information Commissioners and the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government."

Justifying to control the tenure and salaries of the information commissioners, the amendment says the mandate and functions of the Central and State Information Commissions are totally different to that of the Election Commission. "Hence, their status and service conditions need to be rationalized accordingly," it added.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday raised a banner of protest against the proposed amendments, tweeting that "every Indian must oppose the changes suggested" to render the RTI law useless.

"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," Rahul tweeted.

He also tagged a letter by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, which has challenged the amendments on grounds that they undermine the independence of information commissions.

WHY RAJYA SABHA ROUTE?: The government's original idea was to bring the Bill in the Lok Sabha where it has a thumping majority till get it passed instead of piloting it first in the Rajya Sabha where it does not have a simple majority.

It, however, decided to move it in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday to keep it pending even if not passed in the current monsoon session as it would have otherwise lapsed if brought in the Lok Sabha along with completion of the latter's 5-year tenure.