NEW DELHI:  Congress Parliamentary Party Chairman Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the Centre over the Bill that seeks to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 saying the government sees RTI Act as a nuisance and wants to destroy the independence of the Chief Information Commission.

In a statement, Sonia Gandhi said: “It is the matter of utmost concern that the Central government is hell bent on completely subverting the historic RTI Act, 2005, which was prepared after wide consultations and passed unanimously by Parliament. It now stands on the brink of extinction.”

Hitting out at the BJP government, the UPA chairperson said: “It is clear that the present Central government sees the RTI Act as a nuisance and wants to destroy the status and independence of the Central Information Commission (CIC), which was put on par with the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).”

Her remarks came a day after the Lok Sabha passed the RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2019, three days after it was introduced on Friday. 

The RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to make changes to the landmark transparency law and later the salary and tenure structures of Information Commissioners (ICs) in the states and at the Centre. It now needs clearance from the Rajya Sabha. 

Sonia Gandhi said the government may use its legislative majority to achieve its aims, but in the process it would disempower each and every citizen of the country.

IANS