RTI Amendment bill moved for consideration, passage in Lok Sabha; Centre says it's aimed at 'streamlining' of information commission

New Delhi: Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh moved the RTI amendment bill for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha on Monday saying it is aimed at streamlining and institutionalising the functioning of information commission.

He said that the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to remove some of the anomalies in the Act of 2005. “Through this amendment, we would rather be able to streamline and institutionalize the functioning of Information Commission and remove some of the anomalies, " he said.

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The minister said the Chief Information Commissioner’s status is regarded at par with that of Chief Election Commissioner which, in other words, becomes equal to that of Chief Justice of India.

He said there were a number of judgments and recommendations including that from the second administrative reforms commission which suggested that “such anomalies should be done away with”. He expressed confidence that members will respect the spirit with which the bill has been brought in and assured that the government will look at suggestions with an open mind.

The bill seeks to give the Centre power to fix the tenure and salaries of information commissioners.