Under immense pressure from around the country, the Government has agreed to withdraw the amendments to the Right to Information Act. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri said that following a decision taken by PM Manmohan Singh, the amendment bill was not likely to be introduced in the current session of Parliament, which concludes on August 25. He said that there have been considerable apprehensions about the proposed changes and clarifications in the RTI Act. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the PM have received several representations in this regard, and it has been decided that the issue should be first discussed with all stakeholders, he said. "We have discussed the RTI issue in detail with the Prime Minister, and he did not feel it right to introduce the bill in this session of the Parliament. We will discuss with more people," said Prithviraj Chavan, Union Minister of State in the PMO. This means that the government has also decided to drop file notings exemption, and that file notings can be accessed.

In the wake of the announcement, Parivartan founder member and this year's Magsaysay winner Arvind Kejriwal has insisted that no political party could have gone through with the amendments. "When people start using the RTI, they will be interested in this powerful tool. Once people understand the power of this tool, it will be politically suicidal for any party to even try to change it," said Kejriwal. The government's decision is a major victory for the people as it finally convinced the Gandhian Anna Hazare to end his hunger strike against the proposed amendments. Hazare had been on a hunger strike for 11 days and other campaigners have been protesting across the country. 

In just nine months, the law has enabled thousands of Indians to get their ration cards, passports and water connections without paying a bribe, prompting the government bureaucrats to fight back and lobby the government to amend the law. As ordinary citizens came out in protest against the move, MPs, including those from the Left, joined in. The Left parties have had several run ins with the government, and the proposed changes in RTI would have been another. The Left says that if the file notings were removed, it would have killed the act and that is why they did not support the law.

News of the government's decision to postpone any changes was celebrated across the country, as in Nagpur and Delhi. "It Is a victory for the people. The people who voiced their concerns against corruption, who took part in the protest, who filled the ballot boxes," said Aruna Roy, Activist. Although the activists are celebrating tonight, from tomorrow, they plan to start the campaign again to try and educate Indians about RTI and how to use it.