The Asian Age: New Delhi:
Wednesday, July 31, 2013.
In a bid to
keep political parties out of the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act, the
government has come up with a draft amendment bill seeking to change the
provisions related to it and has put a proposal to this effect on the agenda of
the meeting of Union Cabinet, which will meet on Thursday.
Sources in
the government said the draft amendment bill has been prepared by the
Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is the nodal agency for the
implementation of the RTI Act 2005. “The proposal is high on the agenda of the
meeting of the Union Cabinet, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh.”
The move of
the government comes after the Central Information Commission (CIC) in June held
that six national parties Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI-M, CPI and BSP have been substantially
funded indirectly by the Central government and were required to appoint public
information officers (PIOs) as they have the character of a public authority
under the Right to Information Act.
The CIC had
given a six-week deadline to all these political parties to appoint PIOs and
appellate authorities (AAs) for the purpose.
The decision
from transparency watchdog evoked sharp reactions from political parties,
especially Congress, the ruling party, which has been credited with bringing in
the transparency law.
Of the six
political parties, only CPI has followed the CIC’s order in time and even
responded to an RTI query.
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.
According to
sources, the government plans to bring the amendment bill in Parliament during
the Monsoon Session.
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