Why we need to worry about the RTI Amendment

Hello everyone. I hope you’re doing well. And also, as usual, I’m damn sure you don’t care about what goes on in the country, obviously except silly gossips and viral posts. So, let me first make you aware with what’s the biggest worry in the country, the RTI (Amendment) Bill, and the mysterious way in which it had been introduced and passed within 3 days of its introduction, on 22nd July in the Lok Sabha, while you were still busy sharing pictures and giving Modi the credit for the launch of Chandrayaan-2; and on 25th, it was passed in the Rajya Sabha. What exactly is the RTI (Amendment) Bill, and why is it of any worry?

The RTI (Amendment) Bill was introduced by Jitendra Singh, on behalf of the Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions of the PMOs office, and passed with majority in the Lok Sabha, and subsequently in the Rajya Sabha. According to the Bill, there have been changes in the terms, and conditions of appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) at the center and the information commissioners in the state. The fixed tenure of 5 years (up to 65 years of age) has been removed and they will have terms “as prescribed by the Central Government”, and their salaries have also been altered and will be decided by the Centre. The Minister defended this act by stating that it was done to “remove some anomalies in the Act” and it won’t affect the autonomy or the independence of the institution. He further said, “Probably the then government of the day, in a hurry to pass the RTI Act, 2005, overlooked a lot of things. The Central Information Commissioner has been given the status of a Supreme Court judge, but his judgements can be challenged in the high courts. How can that exist?”
“The RTI didn’t give the government rule-making powers. We are merely correcting these through the amendment.”

This seems like a simple thing; what’s the big deal in it, right? Here’s why this Bill looks so problematic. Consider this basic example. There’s a school where most senior teachers don’t have the complete knowledge on the subject they are teaching. But there are a few teachers who teach properly, and are liked by the students. So, one day, a group of students approached a teacher of the latter kind and address their grievances to the teacher. Will the teacher, knowing very well that his salary and his tenure in the job is bound in the senior teachers’ hand, go and convey the message directly? Also, when he conveys this message to the Principal, the Principal promises him a hike in his salary. Will he be able to perform his duty ‘independently’ then?

It is an obvious that a person is bound to his/her employer. Because his job, his livelihood depends on the employer. So, it is a general thing that the person can have no independence. Therefore, what amount of autocracy will the Information Commissions have, if its reins would be held by the Government in power? Will it be able to function as smoothly as it is doing now?

Let’s come to the second reason why this whole thing smells fishy. Strangely, the RTI (Amendment) Act was introduced by the Government in complete secrecy, shockingly violating the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy, which states public disclosure and consultation on draft legislations. The materials of the Amendment, which was presented before the house, were not known by the citizens, journalists or even MPs, which makes this a complete undemocratic act. Also, no Parliamentary Committee was formed to review this Act. Adding to this, ironically, when the RTI Bill was passed, in 2005, the salaries of the Central Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners were equivalent to secretaries and additional secretaries respectively; but, on suggestion of the Parliamentary Committee including the then BJP MPs Ramnath Kovind, Ram Jethmalani and Balavant Apte, recommended increasing the salaries of the ICs and the CIC to the level of chief and other election commissioners.

Why was this Bill introduced and also passed in a haste, and without prior notice and discussions, if this was just ‘to remove some anomalies in the Act’, as mentioned by the minister while presenting the Bill? Also, why was this Act not referred to a Parliamentary Committee for review, although it was requested by many of the MPs? If the RTI Bill itself is shrouded in secrecy, and passed overnight, how can one expect the organization to be transparent? There’s certainly some under table reason behind this that is not being conveyed to anyone else.

Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi rightly terms the Bill as “disempowering every Indian citizen” and also goes on to say that it stands on the brink of extinction. RTI activist and Magsaysay award winner Aruna Roy, in a recent conversation with Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today, had this to say about the amendment, and why it would dilute the power of the RTI; “If you would reduce the status of the commission and you transfer its all power to the Government on whom it is overseeing and is a monitoring organization, all its oversight will become impossible. Because if the ministers and the Government appoint the Commissioners and decide on the tenure and salary, they would absolutely hold the Commissioners to ransom.”
The Government argued that RTI is not a constitutional body. But, the Supreme Court in a chain of landmark cases held that the RTI, like Right to Vote, has originated from Right of Expression under Article 19(1)(a). Both the CEC and the CIC enforce these two aspects of that fundamental right. The 2005 RTI Act says information is a ‘constitutional right’, while the 2019 Bill contradicts it.

The RTI Act has been disliked by the Governments and its ministers right from the very beginning. But they could nothing against the Act, as it was introduced on the people’s demands, and the earlier Governments had at least a little amount of respect for the people unlike this Government has. It has been clear since 2014 that this Government doesn’t love transparency and questions are the last thing it wants to answer (which is evident from the fact that PM Modi has not held even a single Press Conference in the last 5 and a half years). Also, many important data have not been disclosed to the public, for example take the number of farmers committing suicide every year, the data on which is not available since 2016. Also, the introduction of electoral bonds and the recent debates on whether the ECI has been compromised may have instigated this sudden and secret introduction of the Amendment Bill, without any prior debates or reviews. The Government’s love for trying and holding the reins of the autonomous institutions is also not unknown. So, when you know how the attitude of the Government has been towards transparency, the real reason behind the haste presentation and passing of the RTI (Amendment) Bill should not come as a surprise.

Now that the Bill has been cleared in majority by the Rajya Sabha too, there is little doubt that it will be turned into a law. We, the citizens, must come together again, to protest against this move in huge numbers, because this was something big which we had achieved after a huge struggle. You ask how? Come on people, you call yourselves ‘patriots’ and share things which have a tinge of nationalism and put up national flag as your profile pictures, and study in WhatsApp Universities; still, you want some advice? Okay, here’s what you can do. Talk with people, explain to them what RTI is and why the Amendment will be a problem for the country; If possible, hold demonstrations and debates on this topic, and spread this message as much as possible. Also, obviously some people will abuse you and call you anti-nationals. Here’s to those people, if fighting for the Rights of the country is anti-national, then maybe every freedom fighter was an anti-national.

Ask questions when there’s still time. Do things which are really necessary for the future of the country. If you won’t ask questions today, you can’t answer the same tomorrow.