Govt moves Cabinet to keep parties out of RTI
In a bid to keep political parties out of the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act, the government has come up with a draft amendment bill seeking to change the provisions related to it and has put a proposal to this effect on the agenda of the meeting of Union Cabinet, which will meet on Thursday.
Sources in the government said the draft amendment bill has been prepared by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is the nodal agency for the implementation of the RTI Act 2005. “The proposal is high on the agenda of the meeting of the Union Cabinet, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.”
The move of the government comes after the Central Information Commission (CIC) in June held that six national parties — Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI-M, CPI and BSP — have been substantially funded indirectly by the Central government and were required to appoint public information officers (PIOs) as they have the character of a public authority under the Right to Information Act.
The CIC had given a six-week deadline to all these political parties to appoint PIOs and appellate authorities (AAs) for the purpose.
The decision from transparency watchdog evoked sharp reactions from political parties, especially Congress, the ruling party, which has been credited with bringing in the transparency law.
Of the six political parties, only CPI has followed the CIC’s order in time and even responded to an RTI query.
The government seeks to change the definition of public authorities mentioned under Section 2 of the RTI Act to keep all recognised political parties out of the jurisdiction of RTI, the sources said.
According to sources, the government plans to bring the amendment bill in Parliament during the Monsoon Session.
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