Don't touch the RTI Act: Information Commissioners to Government

NEW DELHI: Information Commissioners strongly feel that there should be no tinkering with the RTI Act to constrict it and instead steps should be taken to further strengthen it.

They were of the view that "the ambit of the RTI Act should not be constricted. It should instead be strengthened. The RTI Act should not be amended at this stage and should be retained as it is. It is not the time for making any amendment in it," Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra said today.

Summing up the events of the two-day annual CIC convention attended by 65 information commissioners and experts, Mishra said a wide range of topics were discussed. These included bringing public-private partnerships under transparency law, its exemption clauses, pro-active disclosures and experiences of Information Commissioners.

"Infrastructure and other services like health and education, governments are taking PPP mode. RTI Act acts on government funded projects... The Convention came to the conclusion that PPP projects should be brought under the RTI Act," he said.

He said experts were of the view that exemption provisions of the RTI Act should be used only in exceptional cases while disclosure of information should be the general norm.