Sonia Gandhi said this government has seen a phenomenon institution as an obstacle to enforce its majoritarian agenda without holding accountability to people
New Delhi: On Thursday Congress president Sonia Gandhi 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 should be free from interference and signalling by the Modi government, said Sonia.
Gandhi said “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,”.
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Praising she said the RTI Act, was historic legislation that gave birth to an institution that in the last 13 years has become a “sentinel of democracy, transparency, and accountability to the common man”.
She added RTI activists across the country have used the law to tackle corruption, to measure the effectiveness of government policies and to illuminate the deficiencies in processes such as demonetization and elections.
Gandhi said this government has seen a phenomenon institution as an obstacle to enforce its majoritarian agenda without holding accountability to people.
“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,” said Sonia Gandhi.
Gandhi alleged that the Modi government reduced the benefits for all important posts and has ensured that no senior self-respecting official would agree to work under such monitored circumstances, she alleged.
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