If RTI hinders governance, it should be looked into: Soni

The RTI Act needs to be looked into if it hinders governance, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni today said.

The RTI Act needs to be looked into if it hinders governance, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni on Friday said.

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"...What the Prime Minister has said is that in certain areas if RTI is used in a way with a purpose of hindering governance then one has to look at that.

"When Prime Minister says something, we accept it as the statement of the government. So there is no need to ask individual ministers what they think of what the Prime Minister has said. You will not get a counter-view," Soni said on the sidelines of an event of the paramilitary CRPF here.

Addressing the two-day annual convention of the Central Information Commission here today, the Prime Minister had said "the Right to Information should not adversely affect the deliberative processes in the Government."

"We must take a critical look at it. There are concerns that need to be discussed and addressed," Singh said.

Soni said, "RTI in my mind is one of the strongest instruments for empowering the citizen and I think India is one of the countries with literacy rates still at 73%, RTI is being used very effectively".

Soni inaugurated a three-day arts and handicrafts exhibition organised by the wives welfare organisation of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).