THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT

(RTI), 2005

WHAT IS RTI

•Provides a legal framework of Citizens democratic right to access to information under the control of Public Authorities.

•An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to Information for citizens to secure.

•To Promote Transparency and accountability in the functioning of every public authority.

PUBLIC AUTHORITYPublic Authority means any Authority or Body or Institution established or constituted:By or under the Constitution

By any other law made by parliament

By any other law made by State Legislature

By notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government

WHAT DOES INFORMATION MEAN??

RecordsDocumentsMemosOpinions & AdvicesPress ReleasesCirculars, Orders & LogbooksContractsReports, Papers, Samples & Models

WHEN & WHEREThe RTI act 2005 was enacted by permission and authority of his Excellency, President of India. This act was enacted by the parliament on 15.06.2005 and notified in the Gazette of India dated 21.06.2005.

APPLICABILITYThe law talks of Access To Information under the control of public authorities. That means that any citizen in India can approach any “Public Authority” of a body of Government or “Instrumentality of State” for the same.

There is a 30 day limit for a reply. In fact the ambit was widened even further and made applicable for bodies “owned, controlled or substantially financed” by the Government.

APPLICABILITYArticle 370 of the Constitution confers a special autonomous status to Jammu & Kashmir. And it is out of the ambit of the RTI too. However it’s not that they don’t have access. They have to rely on the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act of 2009.

NEED FOR RTI ACTIt helps to promote openness, transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.Reduces Corruption.Prevent Administrative Arbitrariness.Bride the gap between providers and recipient of public services.Make citizens part of decision making.Make administrative responsiveStrengthen the foundations of democracy.

REQUEST FOR OBTAINING INFORMATION

>> A person, who desires to obtain any information under this Act, shall Make a request in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is being made, accompanying such fee as may be prescribed to— (a) The Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, of the concerned public authority.

REQUEST FOR OBTAINING INFORMATION

(b) The Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer, as the case may be, specifying the particulars of the information sought by him or her provided that where such request cannot be made in writing, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall render all reasonable assistance to the person making the request orally to reduce the same in writing.

EXEMPTIONS FROM DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

National SecurityContempt of CourtParliamentary PrivilegeTrade SecrecyForeign GovernmentSafety of Informer in Law EnforcementInvestigationsCabinet PapersPrivacy

VERY FIRST RTI APPLICATION

On October 12, 2005, a person called Shahid Raza Burney submitted India’s first ever Right To Information application to a police station in Pune and thus we entered the RTI age.

RTI SUCCESSESOverall it has been hugely successful and has helped citizens get crucial information. One of the biggest successes has been getting information in the Adarsh scam. It also helped expose corruption in the Public Distribution System in Assam.

While there are national and State level scams, it has helped unearth hundreds of wrongdoings at the local level Such as- 2G Scam (Rs1,76,645 crores), Commonwealth Games - Diversion of Dalit Funds (5,27,723.72 crores worth of funds), Indian Red Cross Society Scam etc.

RTI DEATHS

While RTI activism became an industry, attacks on RTI activists followed. The number of such attacks now number hundreds and dozens have been killed. •Lalit Mehta was exposing a NREGA scam and was killed in 2008. •Satish Shetty was exposing land scams in Maharashtra and was stabbed to death in 2010. •In the same year Amit Jethwa was shot in the Ahmedabad High Court complex. He was exposing a mining scam. There are many such stories which talk of the bravery of RTI activists.

FEES & CHARGESApplication Fees- Rs, 10/-In the Form of Electronic Media, Floppy/CD etc.- Additional charges applicable.Inspection charges of relevant files, documents and records-

>> No fee for first hour of inspection. >> Rs. 5/- for every subsequent hour or fraction thereof.

RTI WEBSITE & CONTACT DETAILS http://www.rti.gov.in

Contact Us Director(IR)Room No.279ANorth BlockNew Delhi-110001Email: osdrti-dopt@nic.in

Under Secretary(IR)Room No.281North BlockNew Delhi-110001Email: usir-dopt@nic.in