FILING RIGHT TO INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) enables any Indian citizen to seek any required information from a state or central government office or department. It mandates that the government responds to a citizen’s request for any such information in a timely manner. RTI can be viewed as one of the most powerful legislations in India that gives the citizens the right to question any public authority and their activities. The RTI Act vouches for transparency and enables one to seek any information in the public domain. When one is concerned about the poor maintenance of parks, roads or drainages, processing pensions, healthcare facilities or any government or state related function, one can file an RTI to seek information from the government regarding the same.

PROCESS

Offline Mode:

• Identify the department before whom you want to file the RTI.
• Draft your RTI application in English or any local language of the concerned region. It must be addressed to the state or central Public Information Officer, with the subject as “Seeking Information under the RTI Act, 2005”. It must include a specific question on which one is seeking clarification from the government.
• One must file the RTI by paying 10 rupees as fee. Citizens belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Category are exempt from paying the fees, subject to submitting their BPL Card Certificate.
• One must mention their full name, address, contact details and the name of the town and the date.
• One can post the RTI or drop it at the Public Relations Office (PRO) While submitting the RTI one must keep a photocopy for themselves and also the receipt of acknowledgement from the PRO office.
• According to the RTI Act, the concerned office must reply within 30 days, failing which one can appeal to the “Appellate Authority” who is also bound to reply within 30 days.

Online Mode:

• One must first visit the RTI website and click on the ‘Submit Request’ button and then tick on the ‘I have read and understood the above guidelines’ option.
• Then it will take you to a form where one must fill in all the necessary details. One must fill in their name, address and contact details and also select the department/ministry/ apex body from whom they intend to seek clarifications through the RTI
• One must type their request within 3,000 characters or they can also attach a PDF file not exceeding 1MB. While applying the RTI one is required to pay 10 rupees as fee via net banking or credit or debit card. Citizens belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Category are exempt from paying the fees, subject to submitting their BPL Card Certificate.
• On submission of the RTI Request one shall get a Unique Identification Number, which can be referred to by the applicant in the future.
• Upon successful registration and payment one would get an acknowledgement receipt through email and an SMS alert. You can visit the RTI website to check the status of the RTI Request using the unique identification number.

Alternatively one can also submit their RTI Request via Email.

ADVANTAGES / FEATURES

1. RTI is one of the most powerful legislations in India that gives the citizens the right to question any public authority and their activities.
2. It helps one gauge and understands the working of the government
3. One can seek any information from the government which is in public domain and this helps to maintain transparency of the government.
4. It is one of the most effective tools of communication of citizens with the government and charges the citizen very nominal fees.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

1. A Demand Draft, Bankers Cheque of Indian Postal order of Rs. 10. (payment for offline mode)
2. Net Banking or Credit Card or debit card details. (payment for online mode)
3. Well drafted RTI Request in PDF format ( not required if directly typing it in the online application portal)

To get your FILING RIGHT TO INFORMATION Today!

Contact Dastawezz