The government did not move the controversial Right to Information (Amendment) Bill 2018, which proposes to give the Centre the power to set the tenure and salaries of State and Central Information Commissioners, following pressure from the Opposition parties to send the legislation first to a select committee for further scrutiny.
On Thursday, during the morning meeting with Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Opposition parties told him that the Bill should be sent to a select committee.
According to sources, Mr. Naidu placated the Opposition saying that the Bill was not slated for debate on Thursday. He asked the Opposition members to demand that the Bill be sent to a select committee when it is placed for discussion.
Unacceptable: CPI
“In its current form, the Bill is not acceptable. It will defeat the very purpose of the Right to Information Act. The government is in a hurry to pass the Bill, we can’t let that happen,” CPI leader D. Raja said.
This morning, Congress president Rahul Gandhi too had raised questions about the Bill. “The BJP believes the truth must be hidden from the people and they must not question the people in power. The changes proposed to the RTI will make it a useless Act,” Mr. Gandhi said on Twitter.
Mr. Gandhi tagged a letter by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, which has challenged the amendments on the grounds that they undermine the independence of information commissions.
The government is likely to move the Bill on Monday.