PM seeks revival of RTI act following 2G note leak?

New Delhi, Oct 14: Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on Friday, Oct 14 said that the RTI act needed a critical review.

Prime Minister also added that the information that was available through RTI should in no way affect governance in the country, adding that officials would be discouraged from giving honest views owing to public scrutiny.

"Information through RTI should not adversely affect delivery process in governance," said the Prime Minister.

"RTI is a powerful tool. We wish to make it a more effective instrument for ensuring transparency and accountability in administration," said the PM.

"RTI is now more extensively and more effectively used to bring into public face, many areas of work of public authority which would otherwise remain hidden from public domain," he said.

The step to review the RTI act comes after differences erupted between Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram over a 2G spectrum allocation note that was accessed through RTI.

The secret note exchanged between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee hinted at Chidambaram's role in the 2G spectrum auction.

The UPA government faced severe criticism after the note was leaked following which Chidambaram offered to quit but did not after Congress President, Sonia Gandhi stepped in ensuring that both Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambaram patch up.

The Right to Information Act was passed in the year 2005 that allows people to access information from any public authority within a month after the payment of a nominal fee.

OneIndia News