Author: Girish M

India’s transparency law emerged from a strong public demand for openness in government, but loopholes and institutional weaknesses have steadily eroded its effectiveness. The RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019 increased centralisation by giving the Union Government control over the appointments, tenure, salaries and allowances of Information Commissioners at both central and state levels, raising concerns about their autonomy. The Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) Report 2024-25 highlights further problems, including delays in appointments, lakhs of pending cases and inadequate training of Public Information Officers, contributing to wider use of Section 8 to deny information or issue generic responses. Unless these institutional and…