Kharge accuses government of systematically weakening Right to Information Act

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, gutted the RTI’s public interest clause, weaponising privacy to shield corruption

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday cited the suggestion in the Economic Survey, tabled in Parliament a day earlier, for a “re-examination” of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and accused the government of systematically weakening it.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. (X)

Kharge said the survey suggested a possible “ministerial veto” to withhold information and wants to explore the possibility of shielding public service records, transfers, and staff reports of bureaucrats from public scrutiny.

“In 2019, the Modi Govt hacked away at the RTI Act, seizing control over Information Commissioners’ tenure and pay, converting independent watchdogs into submissive functionaries,” Kharge said on X.

Kharge said over 26,000 RTI cases were pending as of 2025. He added the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, gutted the RTI’s public interest clause, weaponising privacy to shield corruption and stonewall scrutiny.

“Until last month (December 2025), the Central Information Commission had been functioning without a Chief Information Commissioner — the seventh time in 11 years this key post was deliberately kept vacant,” he said.

“Since 2014, over 100 RTI activists have been murdered, unleashing a climate of terror that punishes truth-seekers and extinguishes dissent.”

Kharge said the Whistle-Blowers Protection Act, 2014, passed under the previous Congress-led government, has not been implemented to date. “After killing MGNREGA [Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act], is it RTI’s turn to get murdered?” he asked.

The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G, replaced the two-decade-old MGNREGA.