Right to Information Act can hinder officials giving advice on decisions: Jaitley

The Indian Right to Information (RTI) Act can sometimes inhibit bureaucrats from giving their honest opinion during the process of decision making, Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

"Bureaucrats are free to render their advice and opinion during the process of decision making," Jaitley said at an event to release a book written by retired bureaucrat Omesh Saigal bout his experiences in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

"However, the Right to Information Act can to some extent create hindrance in this regard, and civil servants may not feel free to do so, fearing that later his or her opinion may become public," he added.

In this regard, the Finance Minister cited former editor B.G Verghese as saying that advice given by public servants in the course of decision making should not be made public.