Key rules of 2012 RTI Act not changed, Congress criticism motivated: Govt

NEW DELHI: The government has hit back at the Congress for raking up an unnecessary controversy over the new draft rules for Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Minister of state for personnel and training Jitendra Singh said: “The key provisions of the 2012 Rules framed when UPA was in power have been incorporated verbatim. No change has been made in the RTI fee structure. The parts of rules commented upon by Manish Tewari are the ones which have remained unaltered. Therefore any controversy in this regard is without any basis and motivated.”

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The minister emphasised the Modi government was committed to ensuring full and easy implementation of RTI. Singh explained the need for notifying new rules.

“Legality of the CIC (Management) regulations of 2007 was challenged before the Delhi High Court and t h e s e w e r e quashed. The matter has been pendingbefore the Supreme Court. The government decided, in consultation with CIC, that a comprehensive set of rules be notified by consolidating the key provisions of CIC ( Management) Regulations and also the Rules of 2012. Same has been put up in public domain for comments.”

He clarified that contrary to a newspaper report, RTI fee and word limit remained the same.