The manner in which important bills were passed in Parliament has hurt federalism: Mamata

Kolkata, Sep 28: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said the manner in which important bills were passed in the Parliament has hurt federalism in the country.

She referred to the Right to Information Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in this context. "Today (Saturday) is the International Day for Universal Access to Information. Our party strongly condemned the way in which important Bills including the amendments to the Right to Information Act, was passed in #Parliament, hurting federalism," she tweeted.

The RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2019 allows the Centre to prescribe the term of office, salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of chief information commissioner and information commissioners.

The move has been criticized by activists who said it will affect independence and neutrality of the transparency panel. September 28 has been recognized as the International Day for the Universal Access to Information by the UNESCO General Conference.