Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said the Right to Information Bill that was passed in the Lok Sabha would bring in a new era of efficient governance.

"The passage of the Bill will see the dawn of a new era in our governance, of performance and efficiency, an era which will ensure that benefits of growth flow to all sections of society, an era which will eliminate corruption, bring the common man's concerns to the heart of all processes of governance and truly fulfil the hopes of our founding fathers," Manmohan Singh said.

The prime minister was intervening in the Lok Sabha before the bill was put to vote.

The bill was passed by a voice vote with 150 amendments.

He said the bill laid down an architecture of accessing information in an easy, time-bound and inexpensive way.

"It has stringent penalties for failing to provide information or affecting information flow in any way. It imposes an obligation on agencies to disclose information suo moto, thus reducing the cost of access," the prime minister told MPs.

He said that by bringing the bill, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was fulfilling the commitment to strengthen the common man's role as the arbiter of the country's destiny.

The bill is expected to make the civil servants more accountable. As if to address the possible apprehensions from bureaucrats, Manmohan Singh asked them to see the bill in a "positive spirit", not as a "draconian law for paralysing government but as an instrument for improving government-citizen interface resulting in a friendly, caring and effective government functioning for the good of the people".

"I appeal to all civil servants to see this bill in the right spirit and hope they will only be spurred towards better performance."

"After all, we, the elected representatives of people, bow to the wishes of the people and have come to no harm. So will it be with honest, hard working civil servants," he said.

The prime minister also said there would be exemptions to availability of information "disclosure of which may result in breach of privilege of parliament or a state legislature".

But he added: "Even security and intelligence agencies, which are otherwise exempt, are subject to disclosure in cases of allegations of corruption or violation of human rights."