RTI Amendment Bill: All you need to know

BIll for amendment in Right to Information Act (RTI) Act of 2005 was introduced on July 19 in Lok Sabha. It was introduced by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

The bill is in the Lok Sabha for debate. While Singh said that the bill is introduced to structurise RTI law, Opposition claims it will weaken the RTI Act of 2005.

Let us see the new amendments introduced in the RTI (Amendment) Bill:

Tenure of CIC and IC: The Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information Commissioner (ICs) have a tenure of five years. The Bill proposes that the tenure of the CICs and ICs should depend on the central government.

Salary of CIC and IC: The salaries of CIC and ICs in the Centre are equivalent to salaries of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners in the Centre. Similarly, the salaries of CIC and ICs in states are equivalent to salaries of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners in the state.
The new Bill says that the salaries of CIC and ICs both in Centre and State must be decided by the central government.

Provision of pension: The Act says that if the CIC and ICs both in State and Centre are receiving a pension or any other retirement benefits for previous government service, then their salaries are reduced by an amount equal to the pension. The amendment wants to remove these provisions.
In the above context, the government service means, services under the central government, state government, corporation established under a central or state law, or company-owned or controlled by the central or state government.