Over 110 Government Acts to be amended to comply with RTI

Thursday, 6 April 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Government is taking steps to amend over 110 Acts to comply with the Right to Information (RTI) Act which was introduced in February this year.

Responding to a question raised at the weekly Cabinet briefing, Director of Information Dr. Ranga Kalansuriya told journalists that the review of different legislations had been undertaken to ensure compliance with RTI.

“All these acts will need to be amended as the RTI supersedes all,” Dr. Kalansuriya said.

A separate unit has been set up at the Media Ministry to review all legislation which does not comply with the RTI. The DG said amendments would be introduced after the review was completed. The Government has followed a trial and error policy in implementing the Act since it came into force on 4 February.

A common irregularity observed was the disparity in fees charged for obtaining information, which vary significantly from the stipulated amounts in the RTI in certain cases.

“People have brought this to our notice, we will review all such cases and amend the regulations,” Dr. Kalansuriya said. Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka, speaking on the implementation, said that the public had become increasingly aware of the benefits of the new regulations and had displayed an increasing trend in putting it into practice.