Former Information Panel Chief condemn RTI changes

NPnews24 online : At least seven former Information Commissioners of the Central Information Commission termed proposed amendments as a direct attack on peoples fundamental.

Wajahat habibullah, Deepak Sandhu (both former chief information commissioners), Shailesh Gandhi, Sridhar Acharyulu, MM Ansari, Yashovardhan Azad and Annapurna Dixit (former information commissioners) termed the amendment as a direct attack on the autonomy of information commissions and people’s fundamental right to know and urged the government to withdraw the regressive amendments.

The RTI act passed in 2005 was referred to a standing committee which examined all the provisions at length and recommended that in order to ensure the autonomy of information commissions, the commissioners should be given a status equivalent to election commissioners.

Several changes in RTI act would affect existing commissioners. Wajahat Habibullah said that there was no reason for the amendment. Salary and tenure have not been a point of problem or contention.