india

Updated: Nov 01, 2019 04:49 IST

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday accused the Modi government of diluting the powers of the Information Commissioners through amendments to the RTI Act and termed it as a “final assault” to decimate the historic legislation. The amendments passed by the government will ensure that no information commissioner shall be free from interference and signalling by the Modi government, she said in a statement.

“We have opposed these amendments in Parliament and will continue to oppose them in practice. We condemn this piecemeal destruction of our democratic institutions and will continue to fight the Modi government in these self-serving actions which are the very opposite of national interest,” she said.

She said the government has seen the RTI as an obstacle to enforcing majoritarian agenda. “The BJP government has now launched its final assault to decimate RTI. To further erode and dilute its effectiveness, the Modi government has passed amendments which diminish the office of the information commissioner in a manner that it leaves them at the mercy of the very government it is required to hold accountable,” she said.