-Hindustan Times The retrograde Amendment would amount to creating an RTI ministry under the government Fifteen years is a good time for appraisal of an institution. The Right to Information (RTI) Act, called the sunshine legislation and promulgated in 2005, certainly deserves an in-depth study and assessment for accelerating the flow of information to the public. This calls for upgrading skills, infrastructure, processes and alacrity of response from public authorities. A decadal...

-Business Standard Why are these Amendments being brought about now? It is very interesting Why are these Amendments being brought about now? It is very interesting. It is very important to understand that the timing of these Amendments is not so innocuous; it is not so innocent; and after reviewing RTI decisions some of which have already been alluded to by Mr Singhvi, I have here five cases that have propelled the...

-The Times of India The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday amid high drama and an Opposition walkout. The Opposition says the changes put forth in the bill, which had already cleared the Lok Sabha, undermine the independence of the RTI watchdog. The government has argued that the Amendments leave the information officials' powers untouched and are aimed at streamlining the commission. A...

-The Telegraph Call to Kovind to back law he helped draft New Delhi: Former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has started an online petition to persuade President Ram Nath Kovind to stand by the transparency law he helped draft as a member of a parliamentary standing committee in 2004. While the petition, started on Friday, is finding traction, more such letters are being planned to appeal to the President’s conscience so that he...

-The Telegraph The government worked the phones to bring around three unattached parties that had reservations about the Amendments New Delhi: A depleted Opposition fought valiantly in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday to try and have the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill 2019 referred to a select committee but lost as the government worked the phones to bring around three unattached parties that had reservations about the Amendments. The government defeated the motion...