New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government aims to reduce people’s dependence on the Right to Information (RTI) Act, and ensure that it proactively disseminates information of public importance, Home Minister Amit Shah said at the 14th annual convention of the Central Information Commission (CIC) Saturday.
“Under the Modi government, we want to create such an atmosphere that there are fewer and fewer RTI applications, and people do not feel the need to use RTI,” said Shah, the chief guest at the event.
“The success of the government is not gauged by more number of RTI applications… The success of the government should be gauged by the fact that despite the existence of the RTI Act, the number of applications comes down.”
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Shah also talked about the government’s decision to introduce online dashboards for various schemes, which have allowed even the poorest and most marginalised beneficiaries to get information about them and their implementation digitally.
RTI Amendment bill
Earlier this year, the Modi government passed the controversial RTI Amendment bill, which changed the terms and conditions of appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) at the Centre and information commissioners in the states.
The Act, which has been panned by the Opposition and RTI activists alike, has done away with the fixed tenure of five years for all information commissioners, including the chief. The amendment also altered their salaries which, along with their terms, will now be separately notified by the government.
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Public faith in government
Shah added that in a country like India, which has a long history of colonial rule, it is extremely necessary that the public has faith in the government through laws like RTI.
There was a huge trust deficit between the rulers and the public due to the colonial rule, and since 2005, the RTI Act has contributed significantly in bridging this trust deficit, he added.
Shah also said that at the time the law was being drafted, there were several concerns regarding its misuse. However, in the last decade and a half, the benefits have been greater than any misuse.