After securing a political backing from an all-party meeting, the government on Thursday decided to protect all political parties from the ‘anti-democracy law’ that the RTI has become for the politicians, by amending the Right to Information (RTI) Act to keep political parties out of its ambit.
The decision to change the transparency law was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh. The move followed after the Central Information
Commission (CIC) had in June held that six national parties –the Congress, BJP, NCP, CPM, CPI and BSP—get substantial indirect funding from the Centre and are thus required to appoint public information officers as they have the character of a public authority under the RTI Act.
The decision from transparency watchdog evoked sharp reactions from political parties, especially the Congress which has been credited with bringing in the transparency law but is opposed to the CIC's directive. The department of personnel and training, which acts as nodal department for the implementation of the RTI Act, in consultation with the law ministry decided to amend the law.
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. The government will have to introduce a Bill in this regard in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday, they said.
The Centre's flagship Right to Information Act empowers a citizen to seek time-bound information on all matters of governance by paying a fee of Rs 10.
