To ensure legislative scrutiny, every bill must be sent to a parliamentary committee

A robust lawmaking process requires thorough scrutiny by Parliament. Such scrutiny should not be impacted by either the strength of numbers in Parliament or political agreement on issues.

Parliament, Rajya Sabha, RTI bill in Rajya Sabha, opposition rajya sabha,parliament monsoon session, RTI Bill, RTI Amendment Bill, BJP RTI Bill, RTI Bill changes, RTI Act amendments, RTI Act changes — Earlier this week, the Rajya Sabha was witness to acrimonious scenes during the discussion on the RTI Amendment Bill, which amends the RTI Act of 2005. (Representational)

Earlier this week, the Rajya Sabha was witness to acrimonious scenes during the discussion on the RTI Amendment Bill, which amends the RTI Act of 2005. It provides that the term of office and remuneration of information commissioners (both at the Centre and states) will be prescribed by the central government. The original law specified both of these in the law rather than delegating the power to the central government. Opposition parties were demanding that the Bill be referred to a committee of the House for detailed scrutiny before being passed. The treasury benches and a few other parties were of the opinion that the Bill should be passed after debating it on the floor of the House. Ultimately, the House passed the RTI Amendment after voting down the demand for sending it to a committee. So far, none of the 13 bills passed by Parliament in this session have been referred to a parliamentary committee.