Question

The Parliament recently passed the RTI Amendment Bill, 2019. Discuss the impact of these amendments in the larger context of transparency and accountability in India

Answer 1

Approach:

• Highlight in brief the provisions of the bill.
• Discuss the possible impacts of the amendment.
• Conclude by highlighting how the bill can be improved in future.

The Parliament recently passed the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The bill amended the Right to Information Act, 2005 so as to provide that the term of office of, and the salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of, the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners and the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners, shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

Possible Impact of the Amendment

• It will grant greater powers to the Centre in deciding the terms of the chief information commissioners (CICs) and information commissioners (ICs) at both the central and state levels which many believe will curtail the accountability of the CICs and will lead to interference of the government in the working of the commission.
• The bill legislates and interferes in the state’s domain. The bill takes the power of the state government to decide the tenure and terms and conditions of the appointment of state information commissioners. In this way the bill sets a wrong precedent.
• The Bill also removes provisions of the salary of the CIC and IC being equivalent to those of the CEC and election commissioners at the central level and to those of the election commissioners and the chief secretary at the state level. It will now be determined by the government. This means that the government can change these details anytime to threaten the members of the commission to work in their favour.

The Government says the objective of bringing this amendment is to correct the anomaly in the RTI law. CIC is a statutory body and Election Commission is a Constitutional body. Therefore, the mandate of Election Commission of India and Central and State Information Commissions are different and needed to be determined accordingly.

RTI is a powerful tool in the hands of the citizens and diluting it will weaken the democracy and the constitutional values. The government should consult the opposition and other stake holders and take them in confidence. Government should try to clear the confusion and address the genuine concerns of the members and also should show the willingness to accommodate the relevant suggestions.