Earlier on Tuesday (July 23) UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi alleged that the Modi government is "hell-bent on completely subverting" the RTI Act and wants to "destroy" the independence of the Central Information Commission amid loud Opposition protests
New Delhi: Differences between the opposition and treasury benches emerged in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (July 25) over sending the RTI (Amendment) Bill to a Select Committee of the House forcing two adjournments in the post-lunch period.
While deputy chairman Harivansh asked the minister of state for personnel, Jitendra Singh, to move the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, the opposition members raised objections and wanted the bill to be sent to a Select Committee for further scrutiny.
The Chair, allowed Derek O'Brien (TMC), and two Left members to move a motion for sending the Bill to a Select Committee but said that the same would be taken up together during voting. He asked the discussion to start, but opposition members raised objections.
The treasury benches and the minister said let the Bill be discussed first and only then can a motion to send the Bill to Select Committee be taken up.
Since opposition members created an uproar, the Chair first adjourned the House for 15 minutes and then again for 10 more minutes, before the discussion on the bill was started.
Opposition members continued to create an uproar, but the discussion was started amid the turmoil.
Lok Sabha on Monday (July 22), passed the Bill amending the Right To Information Act, amid objections by the Opposition which alleged that it was an attempt to undermine the law and make the transparency panel a "toothless tiger".
The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to give the government powers to fix salaries, tenures and other terms and conditions of employment of information commissioners.
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