RTI Bill to be placed in monsoon session

RTI Bill to be placed in monsoon session

News:

1. The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018, will be introduced in the Lok Sabha in the monsoon season.

Important facts:

2. The Bill proposed to give the Centre the power to set the tenure and salaries of State and Central Information Commissioners.

3. he Amended Bill seeks to provide equal tenure of five years and salaries to Election Commissioners and Information Commissioners.

4. The decision to give the Information Commissioners a high stature and protected tenure is meant to ensure their independence.

5. Due to their differential positions, the status and service conditions need to be rationalized accordingly.

6. Election Commission is a constitutional body, while Information Commissions are statutory bodies.

7. The functions performed by the Election Commission of India and the Central and State Information Commissions are totally different.

8. Several political parties critising the Bill on the following grounds:

• The amendment will dilute the RTI law.
• Compromise the independence of the Information Commissions.
• The National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) opposed the Bill and termed the move ridiculous.
• The amendments will completely destroy the autonomy of Information Commissions and fundamentally weaken the institution.
• The Centre “usurping” the power to decide the tenure and salaries of State Information Commissioners raised key issues of federalism.
• The Bill lacks transparency.