Congress flags threat to Democracy as RTI Act faces dilution

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

58% : The party highlighted the 2019 amendments to the Act, which allowed the union Government to determine the tenure and service conditions of Information Commissioners, undermining their independence.
56% : "RTI is not just a law; it is a way of constitutional and social empowerment," Shivakumar said.
47% : The Central Commission is operating with only two commissioners against a sanctioned strength of 11, while state commissions have been non-functional at times.
46% : This was further compounded by the 2023 Digital Personal Data Protection Act, which expanded the definition of "personal information," potentially restricting access to public-interest data, including government expenditures, voter lists, and political funding.
45% : It demanded reversing the 2019 amendments, reviewing provisions of the DPDP Act that undermine public-interest disclosures, filling vacancies in commissions, enforcing performance standards, and fully implementing the Whistleblower Protection Act.

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