20 years of RTI: Congress tears into Modi govt for 'systematically killing' Act, 'hollowing out' democracy

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday accused the Modi government of "systematically killing" and "weakening" the Right to Information Act, which was brought by its UPA government two decades ago with an aim to bring in transparency and accountability in governance.

On the 20th anniversary of Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Congress alleged that for the BJP, RTI means "Right to Intimidate", and claimed that the ruling dispensation also made the Central Information Commission a "toothless" body with its top post as well as the posts of seven information commissioners lying vacant for a longtime.

"For the BJP, RTI means Right to Intimidate," AICC general secretary (communications), Jairam Ramesh, said at a press conference on the 20th anniversary of the Act, which was introduced on October 12, 2005.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also accused the Modi government of "systematically corriding" the RTI Act and "hollowing out" democracy and citizen's rights.

In a post on X, Kharge said that 20 years ago, the Congress-led UPA government ushered in a new era of transparency and accountability, and the RTI was the first of its several "transformative rights-based legislations".

"In the last 11 years, the Modi government has systematically corroded the RTI Act, thereby hollowing out democracy and citizen's right," Kharge said in his post.

The Congress chief claimed that in 2019, the Modi government "hacked away" at the RTI Act, seized control over the information commissioners' tenure and pay, and converted independent watchdogs into servile functionaries.

"The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, gutted the RTI's public interest clause, weaponising privacy to shield corruption and stonewall scrutiny," Kharge alleged.

Ramesh said the purpose and intention behind the "revolutionary" law was to bring transparency in the functioning of the government and make it accountable, alleging that there has been a deliberate and continuous effort to weaken it.

The Modi government brought amendments to the Act in 2019 to weaken it and turn the CIC into a "toothless organisation", he alleged.

"The government wants mercy killing of RTI," he claimed, adding that no posts were filled in the CIC to make it a "toothless body".

He also claimed the Modi government brought the Digital Personal Data Protection Act to amend the provisions of the RTI Act to effectively dismantle the RTI.

The CIC is being run by just two members and the posts of chief information commissioner and seven other commissioners in the body are lying vacant for the past two years, Ramesh said.

"The CIC headquarter looks like a ghost house," Ramesh said, referring to the "deep aversion" of the Modi government towards the RTI.

Congress general secretary (organisation), K C Venugopal, said the Right to Information Act, 2005, was a landmark moment in Indian history -- bringing in unprecedented levels of transparency and paving the way for accountability of all public servants, including the prime minister of India.

"Unfortunately, as we mark the 20th anniversary of the RTI Act, we see a deliberate attempt to destroy and undermine this law. Through amendments as well as sheer non-compliance, the Modi government has taken a sledgehammer against the RTI Act.

"By misusing the exemptions clause, and introducing further exemptions via the Digitial Personal Data Protection Act, they have made it impossible to extract meaningful information from the government," Venugopal said on X, reiterating Congress' commitment to protect the RTI Act against such "assaults".

Ramesh said when acts like RTI were being planned, bills were sent to standing committees and the then-Manmohan Singh government agreed to all the amendments suggested by the panels.

But in 2019, the suggestions made by the standing committees -- which included senior BJP leaders Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Kiran Maheshwari, Harin Pathak, Brajesh Pathak (all Lok Sabha MPs then) and Bal Apte and Ram Nath Kovind from the Rajya Sabha -- were not agreed to and removed, the Congress leader said.

Ramesh also listed five reasons behind the Modi government acting against the RTI Act to "weaken" it, claiming them to be significant reasons as they all land at the office of the prime minister directly, which is why the key amendments were brought in.

He said an order by the chief information commissioner to provide information about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's MA degree in "entire political science" under the RTI Act was the first reason, while the second was RTI information proving the prime minister wrong when he claimed that there were crores of fake ration cards in the country.

The information obtained through the RTI Act revealed that Modi's claims were wrong, he said.

The third reason, Ramesh said, was the information revealed through RTI that just four hours prior to the demonetisation announcement by Prime Minister Modi, the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India concluded that the move will not help curb black money or fake currency.

Citing the fourth reason, Ramesh said that under the RTI Act, somebody sought the list of 20 top willful loan defaulters of the country, and the CIC said the list had been submitted by the then-RBI governor to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The fifth reason, the Congress leader claimed, was the revelation through RTI that no black money had come back from abroad as had been promised by Prime Minister Modi ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress leader also warned that the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, if implemented in its current form, will prove to be the final death knell for the RTI.

Section 44(3) of the Act says no personal information of any individual will be accessible under the RTI Act, he said.

"This provision can be misused to deny important information on the pretext of it being 'personal information'. People holding public offices and public positions cannot hold back information on this pretext," he said.

Ramesh also said that he had written to the information technology minister, seeking an amendment to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, lest it can become the final death knell for the RTI.

"What is personal about activities conducted in public life," he asked.

The senior Congress leader also claimed that even though he challenged the amendments to the RTI Act on December 17, 2019, in the Supreme Court, the matter is still pending before the apex court. PTI SKC ARI