The Government of India has taken key legislative and administrative actions related to governance and transparency.
The Lok Sabha passed the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which proposes changes to the Right to Information Act, 2005. The amendment provides that the tenure, salaries, allowances, and service conditions of the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners (Central and State) will be determined as per rules prescribed by the Central Government.
During the debate, the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh, stated that the government remains fully committed to transparency and accountability. He highlighted that ministries are increasingly adopting suo motu disclosure of information to reduce the burden of RTI applications and improve governance efficiency.
He further noted that citizen-centric grievance redressal mechanisms have strengthened the RTI framework and contributed to a reduction in pending RTI applications over the last five years.
On concerns regarding rule-making powers for State Information Commissions, he clarified that under the original RTI Act, such powers fall under residuary jurisdiction of the Union Government, and therefore the Centre is within its mandate to frame rules.
Addressing comparisons between Information Commissions and the Election Commission of India, the Minister stated that both institutions have different constitutional and statutory roles, and therefore their service conditions cannot be equated. He also emphasized that there has been no change in provisions related to the appointment of Information Commissioners, and asserted that the autonomy of Information Commissions remains intact.
