New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has accused the Narendra Modi-led Indian government of deliberately weakening the Right to Information (RTI) Act to suppress transparency and accountability.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Jairam Ramesh, in a statement issued in New Delhi, said the Modi government’s amendments to the RTI law were not reforms but deliberate moves “driven by fear of scrutiny.”
He said the RTI Act had become an effective tool for citizens to expose government wrongdoing, which made the ruling regime uneasy. “When people couldn’t access information through departments, they could turn to RTI — but that channel has now been compromised,” he remarked.
Ramesh noted that several RTI disclosures in the past had punctured official narratives — including orders for disclosure of the Prime Minister’s educational qualifications, exposure of false claims about fake ration cards, and revelations that the Reserve Bank of India’s Board had warned the government that demonetisation would not curb black money.
He added that key RTI queries seeking details about top loan defaulters and the return of black money received “no response,” reflecting the government’s attempt to conceal inconvenient truths.
“The Modi regime has systematically crippled transparency to shield the powerful from scrutiny,” Ramesh asserted, warning that weakening the RTI undermines the very foundation of democratic accountability in India.
