With the Opposition on board, the government on Thursday decided to refer a bill that sought to keep political parties out of the ambit of the Right to Information Act to a standing committee of Parliament with a plea for “wider consultations”.
Minister of state for personnel V. Narayanasamy, who piloted the RTI (Amendment) Bill 2013 in the Lok Sabha last month, told the House that in a bid to hold “wider consultations”, the government was recommending that the bill be referred to the standing committee. Several Opposition members supported the decision.
The move follows vociferous opposition to the proposed changes in the RTI Act from NGOs, civil society and RTI activists, who claimed it would defeat the purpose of the transparency law. The amendment bill was also aimed at negating a Central Information Commission that said political parties were “public authorities” and should come under the RTI Act’s ambit.
The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2013 seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2 of the Act, which states that any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act 1951 will not be considered a public authority.