By IANS,
New Delhi : The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday accused the government of trying to dilute the Right to Information Act and demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks calling for a “critical look” at the act.”We never expected that the prime minister through his words will tell the country that money is wasted on RTI and the time of officials is being wasted,” party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
“We think this is a big indication in itself that there are attempts to dilute the RTI Act,” he said.
The BJP leader said the government was trying to dilute the act as it had landed it in trouble due to revelations made through RTI.
“We know that the government is being charged on many occasions because of RTI… Does the government fear that it has already lost its credibility and will be nowhere if this act survives for a long time?” he said.
The BJP also demanded a clarification from the prime minister.
“The intent of the government in making such a remark deserves a clarification from the government and the prime minister himself,” he added.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday called for a “critical look” at the RTI Act and said the law should not adversely affect the deliberative processes in the government.
He also said that it could end up discouraging honest, well meaning public servants from giving full expression to their views.