Lok Sabha passes Right To Information (Amendment) Bill

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the bill to amend the landmark transparency law, the Right to Information Act, amid opposition allegations that it was being diluted.

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the bill to amend the landmark transparency law, the Right to Information Act, amid opposition allegations that it was being diluted. Speaker Om Birla announced that the motion to vote on bill was passed with 218 'yes' votes as against 79 'no' votes. The opposition -- which has dubbed the bill "RTI Elimination Bill" and wants to send it to a select committee for further scrutiny -- is hoping to get support in the Rajya Sabha, where the government still lacks the numbers. Leading the opposition charge during the debate on the Bill, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that under the proposed changes the government can hire and fire independent information commissioners. "It is not Amendment bill but elimination bill," he said. "The Act was a monumental achievement for the country's democracy and it challenged the vested interests of the government," the former Union minister said. Through the day, political activists staged a protest in the streets in Delhi, arguing that the amendments are an attempt to dilute the provisions for disclosure of information. On Friday, the government introduced the RTI Bill which proposes to give the Centre the powers to set the salaries and service conditions of Information Commissioners at central as well as state levels. The government’s move triggered protests from the Opposition. The Rajya Sabha passed the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019, while RTI (Amendment) Bill got the nod of the Lok Sabha on Monday. Rajya Sabha members Monday congratulated the scientists at ISRO for the successful launch of Chandrayaan-2 Moon mission. Speaker M Venkaiah Naidu informed the House that the Chandrayaan-2 has been successfully launched and the House unanimously applauded the feat.