THE RTI STORY

THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005 NO. 22 OF 2005(15thJUNE,2005).

An act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to imformation for under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto.

RTI has given innumerable wake-up calls to the government and it has brought welcome changes in governance. An RTI application recently forced Guru teg Bahadur Hospital in Delhi to provide free treatment to a 73-year old poor woman who couldn't afford her hip replacement surgery.

In Gujrat, a poor man got a government job,denied to him for last 15years, after an RTI application revealed that he was eligible for the job.

Some DATA
24,436 applications were filled in 2006-07: the number in Central government ministries has increased to almost 1 lakh.

16 percent of the applications were rejected.

68 percent applicants were satisfied, according to survey by NGO PRIA in 10 states.

30-day deadline for providing imformation was not adhered to.

86 percent of government departments in 10 states did not make any self-disclosure as mandated under the RTI law.

Landmark orders

Students were allowed to seek information like formula for admission on basis of public examinations like IIT-JEE, CAT.

They can also know marks scored by those who cleared the examination but cannot seek a copy of their answer sheets.

The CIC had also allowed access to procedings of the Departmental Promotion Committees to foster transparency.

For the first time, contributions recieved by political parties were revealed after a CIC order.

A Few Restrictions, In Violation Of The Law

In Karnataka the word length of an application can't be more than 150 and applicants can seek information only on one subject.

Punjab has rejected applications on frivolous grounds like unsatisfactory identity of the information seeker. Information already available on the website etc.

In Orissa and Noida Authority, the applicant has to submit a proof of his/her identity along with the application.

What is the Fee?

- Application fees to be prescibed which must be reasonable.

- If further fees are required, then the same must be intimited in writing with calculation details of how the figure was arrived at.

- Applicant can seek review of the decision on fees charged by the PIO by applying to the appropriate Appellate Authority.
- No fees will be charged from people living below poverty line.

- Applicant must be provided information free of cost if the PIO fails to comply with the prescribed time limit.