The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee's RTI Department is planning to hold a protest in Chennai against the amendments made to the Right to Information Act by the Centre.
TNCC president K.S. Alagiri said the BJP government at the Centre was trying to suppress the information being obtained under the RTI Act. “In 2018, out of a total of 11 posts of Information Commissioner, 8 were kept vacant. Also, 26,000 RTI petitions are still pending with Information Commissioners. Through such activities, the BJP government is trying to stifle the institution,” Mr. Alagiri said. He said it was through RTI queries that a number of issues had come to the fore, including the fact that 99% of demonetised currency had returned to the banks, and that the BJP had received 93% of the funds donated by corporates to political parties. "The Narendra Modi government does not want these types of information to come out," he said.
Mr. Alagiri said the amendments regarding the tenure and appointment of Information Commissioners were a means of controlling the actions of the officials.
