M A I N   N E W S

Govt withdraws RTI Act amendments
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 1
The UPA government today acceded to the demands of NGOs and social activists and formally withdrew the proposed amendments to the Right to Information Act.

The decision was taken at the Union Cabinet meeting today chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

By accepting the demands of activists, the UPA government ensured that its landmark legislation did not get diluted.

The Centre’s proposal to amend the Act met with strong resistance from social activists who maintained that these changes would sound the death-knell of the legislation. The country-wide campaign against this move was led by Aruna Roy, member of the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council (NAC).

It is learnt that Sonia Gandhi personally intervened to see that the amendments were dropped and the legislation retained in its original form.

The changes were cleared by the Union Cabinet six years ago but the government could not push them through in Parliament because of the pressure mounted by the activists as well as the strong opposition from the Left parties,which were lending critical outside support to the UPA I dispensation.

According to the amendments, file notings by officials would be kept out of the purview of the RTI Act except those pertaining to social and development issues. The selection process of civil servants by public authorities like the UPSC were also proposed to kept out of the gambit of the legislation. These amendments now stand withdrawn.

The PM and several UPA ministers have, over the years, repeatedly spoken about addressing certain concerns about the RTI Act like the frivolous and vexatious use of the Act in seeking information which serves no public good. The PM has also commented that the RTI Act should not be allowed to effect the “deliberative processes” in the government. Although it was keen on amending the RTI Act, the government was constrained from going ahead with its proposal at this juncture when it is already under fire on the twin issues of corruption and governance deficit.