Who can ask for information under Right to Information?

Any citizen can ask for information under these laws. The Act extends to the whole of
India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

OCI's (Overseas Citizens of India) and Public Information Officer's (Persons of Indian
Origin) card holders can also ask for information under the RTI Act.

For citizens, OCI's and Public Information Officer's who are staying out of India, the RTI
Application can be filed with the Public Information Officer of the local Indian
Embassy/Consulate/High Commission and they will inform you regarding the amount of
application fee in local currency as well as the mode of payment.

Case Study
Campaign against Illegal hoardings
Vinod Malhotra, a concerned Bangalore resident, had been pursuing the case of illegal
commercial and political advertisement hoardings in Bangalore with Bangalore
Mahanagar Palika (BMP) since he moved to Bangalore in May 2005. He was really
ticked off by city corporators, MLAs, MPs and their supporters littering the city with their
posters, as if the whole city were their backyard.

As he pursued the matter with BMP, he learnt that there was an equally big racket with
commercial hoardings. There were too many illegal hoardings all over the city and BMP
was not doing anything about them. It was easy to imagine what officers were getting in
return for turning a blind eye to violations which also cause a loss of taxes to the city. His
repeated calls to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Additional Commissioner had no
impact. After a couple of months, they even stopped responding to his phone calls to
their mobiles.
Then came the RTI Act in October. He filed an application with the PIO, Advertisement,
in the BMP central office on October 25. Within a few days, he received a reply from the
PIO stating that the required information was with the three zonal officers and he should
approach them. The PIO also returned his postal order. The PIO happened to be the DC
he had been calling earlier. He called the DC again to remind him that that there was no
provision under the RTI Act to return the request for information. He also reminded him
that some of the questions related to the policies decided by the central office.
Therefore, he could not be asked to collect information from the zonal offices.

He mailed an appeal to the first appellate authority on November 15 against the rejection
of his application. When he did not get a response for more than 30 days, he filed the
second appeal with CIC on December 28. In response, the CIC asked the appellate
authority on January 7 to furnish a response within a week. That set the alarm bells
ringing at the BMP office. The appellate authority called for a hearing against the PIO on
January 12 and invited Vinod Malhotra. Malhotra declined to attend the hearing based
on the argument that the appellate authority itself had violated the RTI Act by not acting
on his application within 30 days and now the matter was under consideration by CIC.
The appellate authority, however, did hold a hearing on January 12 in his absence and
asked the PIO to furnish all the available information the same day. It was the first
victory - instead of making him run around to various zonal offices, one PIO was being
held accountable to provide all the information.
He received a call from the PIO on January 18 that the information was ready and he
could pick it up from another person in the BMP office. He requested that the information
be sent to him via postal mail as he did not have time to personally visit BMP office. The
PIO would not budge from his position. Finally when he called the concerned person
who had the information, he agreed to deliver it to Malhotra's office. He received
voluminous information, about 200 pages, on January 20, but it was mostly obsolete,
incomplete and to some extent false. He therefore e-mailed a formal complaint to CIC on
January 23 under Section 18 and asked for a hearing. He had to call the CIC office a
couple of times to get things moving. In the end, CIC was very accommodating and the
hearing date was set for Sat, February 18, a holiday for Vinod but a working day for
BMP.

Better Roads
Residents of L.B.S.Nagar, a new and upcoming colony in Bangalore have access to
their colony from two roads that pass through Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Vimanapura
Campus. For the past three years both roads had fallen into a state of extreme disrepair.
Every year a fresh layer of rock and mud was laid, but the bitumen was always missing.
Finally one citizen filed an application with the HAL asking for details of the road work
conducted on both access roads over the past few years. While no response was
received from the officials, lo behold within 15 days of the application a mint fresh layer
of bitumen appeared on both roads.

School Admissions
This story was published by Indian Express, Delhi in August 2004:

Three-and-a-half-year-old Anshu will be going to a public school from tomorrow. The

passage has not been easy and doors were slammed on her but her father, social
worker Rajiv Kumar Sharma, did something that shows the way to other parents. With
Delhi government dragging its feet on implementing the quota for the poor, Sharma used
the Right to Information Act.

That he works for Parivartan — earlier he used to run an STD booth — helped as far as
awareness about RTI goes.

A resident of East Delhi, Sharma had read about the high court order (regarding schools
on DDA land) and the Education Department directive of 25 pc and 20 pc reservation,
respectively, for students from lower-income households in public schools. ‘‘I prepared
all my papers which showed that I earned less than the amount stated by the
government to qualify for this scheme and went to Greenfields Public School (pre-
nursery) in Dilshad Garden on June 3,’’ he recalled.

‘‘They refused to even hear me out and told me they had never heard of this order and
they were not implementing it,’’ says Sharma.

After a week he went to the education department to register his complaint. He waited
for a month but nothing moved. So, he filed an application under RTI on July 12.
In his application, he asked for (1) daily report on the movement of his complaint; (2)
name of the official who had been appointed to look into his complaint; (3) his findings;
(4) what action had been taken, and if no action had been ordered, when it would be
done; (5) if the DDA had been informed by the department about this school flouting the
order so that action could be taken by them; and (6) the steps the department was taking
to ensure the order was strictly implemented.

In effect, the Education Department was being called to account. ‘‘They replied with all
the answers but said I hadn’t mentioned my daughter’s age and what class she wanted
admission into. When the school was not even prepared to receive my applicaiton, how
could I give them all these details,’’ says Sharma.

However, last week he was asked by the department to approach the school and get his
daughter admitted. Yesterday, Anshu was given admission. ‘‘The school principal met
me finally and asked me to withdraw my complaint and my daughter was given
admission to nursery," says a relieved Sharma.

Polluting Factory Shutdown

This story was published by Indian Express, Delhi, in August 2004:

Kapil Jain, a resident of Vishwas Nagar in east Delhi, doesn't fancy himself as a hero. "I
am an ordinary person who wanted to lead an ordinary life. I live according to the
principles of my father," says the 34-year-old, who gave up engineering because his
father wanted him to become a teacher.

However, when his neighbour began running an illegal plastic recycling factory, he
couldn’t sit back and watch. ‘‘It was hell, absolute unbearable hell. The walls kept
shaking, nauseating gases hung in the air,’’ he says, recalling the circumstances that led
him to use the Delhi Right to Information Act.

The factory was started in 1993, a year before he got his job. ‘‘But my father would say,
‘how can we complain against our own neighbour?’’’ remembers Kapil. He first
complained to the police in 1995 but that didn’t bring much relief.

He had almost given up hope and was contemplating selling off his house when he
came across newspaper reports on the Right to Information Act in 2001. He soon picked
up a booklet.

In December 2002, he filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police and
forwarded a copy to the SDM of the area as directed in the booklet. ‘‘I visited the SDM’s
office at least five times between February and August 2003. Finally, I approached the
Deputy Commissioner’s office again and filed an application under the RTI Act, wanting
to know what was happening to my complaint.

‘‘On September 1, I received a reply saying they had forwarded my complaint to the
Delhi Pollution Control Committee but no reply had been received. So, on September 3,
I filed an RTI application at the DPCC. Then, surprise of surprises, they replied they had
already sent an inspection report of the unit categorizing it a polluting unit liable to be
shut down,’’ he says.
Jain got a copy of the DPCC’s letter classifying the unit as illegal and himself
approached the SDM. ‘‘The factory was sealed the next day,’’ says Jain triumphantly.

Kapil is angry that nobody has been held accountable for his family’s bad health and
losses — including an unborn child. Instead he had to face the ire of his neighbours. The
couple now await the birth of their first child in December this year

Quacks Sent Packing

This story was published by Indian Express, Delhi, in August 2004:

Dr. Irshad Khan sits in a small room in New Seemapuri that is his clinic, attending to a
stream of coughing and wheezing patients. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Unani
Medicine and Surgery (BUMS). But he has also opened an information counter to
spread awareness about people's rights.

Behind this mission was a fight he waged to make a quack flee the area. ‘‘Still there are
dozens of quacks operating here and I will try to keep fighting against them,’’ he says,
recalling how it all began when he started getting patients from Mumtaz Clinic in the
area.

The doctor running the clinic, Shahbaz Alam, claimed to be a Unani doctor but was
dispensing even allopathic medicines, he alleged. Khan was in a dilemma. He was angry
that patients were being taken for a ride but didn’t wish to convey an impression that
there was any jealousy involved. ‘‘So, I filed all the complaints in my brother Naushad
Ahmed’s name,’’ he said.

He went to the police but was rebuffed. He then sent a letter to the Directorate of Health
Services on August 8 last year. Over the next three months, he said, the officials gave
one excuse after another for not taking action.

This January his neighbour, Rajiv Sharma, a member of Parivartan, introduced him to
RTI. Khan filed an application under RTI on February 3 this year and received a letter
from the Directorate in March, well after the prescribed 30-day period.

They had found that Dr. Alam held a Diploma in Unani Medicine and was registered with
the Bharatiya Chikitsa Parishad, UP, but not in Delhi. A medical practitioner can practise
in Delhi only after registering with medical bodies like Delhi Medical Council for
allopathic doctors and Bharatiya Chikitsa Parishad for Unani and Ayurvedic. ‘‘The fact
that he was not registered means he is a quack,’’ said Dr. Anil Bansal, former president
of Delhi Medical Association. ‘‘Besides nobody can start practising after just a diploma.’’

Perhaps, warned by the inquiry, the quack packed his bags and left just a week after Dr.
Khan received the letter.

\Medical Colleges in Maharashtra owned by senior politicians are in the middle of a

scam. At least three colleges in Nagpur, Pune and Nasik have overcharged students by
increasing fees to cover their bizarre expenses. The scam was unearthed after the
Parents' Association of Medical Students got a reply to an RTI application asking
colleges to justify the steep hike.

The colleges shocked students and parents when they doubled their fees this year
without any reason. The Supreme Court had clearly laid out that the fees charged by
medical colleges should be a reasonable amount of what a college spends to provide
education. The colleges have submitted their balance sheets to justify their fee hike.

NKP Salve Medical College: Balance Sheet

Interest: Rs 2.8 crore
Petrol and diesel expenses: Rs 21 lakh
Vehicle hiring costs: Rs 4,26,000
Bank commission: Rs 21 lakh
DA & Allowances payable: Rs 2.38 crore

The balance sheet shows everything from petrol expenses, advertising expenses, bank
commission charges and even the legal fees are being used to explain their new
skyrocketing fees. But one wonders how do they get away with probably because all are
owned by politicians. NKP Salve Medical College in Nagpur, is owned by Ranjit
Deshmukh, who was once a minister and chief of the Maharshtra Pradesh Congress
Committee. This college has hiked its fee from Rs 2 lakh to nearly Rs 4.5 lakh this year.

D Y Patil Dental college in Pune is owned by education baron and veteran Congress
leader D Y Patil. The college has increased its fee three times from Rs 86,000 per year
to Rs 2.3 lakh.

D Y Patil Dental College: Balance Sheet

Hospital charges: Rs 36 lakh
Bank interest, commission charges: Rs 1.20 crore
Advertising charges: Rs 14,34,000
Travelling, conveyance expenses: Rs 18,36,000
Legal, consultancy charges: Rs 7,25,000

The most cruel given that the students are locked in a legal battle against these colleges
over hike in fees. NDMVPS Medical College Nasik is owned by the sitting MLA of the
NCP Vasantrao Pawar. The fees has been increased from Rs 97,000 per annum to Rs
1, 80,000. The college has taken financial jugglery to a new art. The fee committee took
years 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 as its base years to fix fees of Medical colleges. In both
the years, NDMVPS has shown a loss of over Rs 2 crore perhaps to make a case for fee
hike. But in the interim year 2004- 2005, the college has shown a huge profit of over Rs
7 crore.

In fact it's amounting to profiteering. Any charges that are in addition to the cost of
education fee is capitation fee, which is a cognizable offence," said Rajesh Jain,
Member, Parents' Association of Medical Students. What's stunned and angered parents
is that on the Supreme court's orders the government had set up a committee to monitor
fee hikes. But instead of acting as a watchdog the committee has given the colleges a
free hand to jack up fees.

What is RTI?
RTI stands for Right to Information. Right to Information is a part of fundamental rights
under Article 19(1) of the Constitution. Article 19 (1) says that every citizen has freedom
of speech and expression. As early as in 1976, the Supreme Court said in the case of
Raj Narain vs State of UP, that people cannot speak or express themselves unless they
know. Therefore, right to information is embedded in article 19. In the same case,
Supreme Court further said that India is a democracy. People are the masters.
Therefore, the masters have a right to know how the governments, meant to serve them,
are functioning. Further, every citizen pays taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays tax
(in the form of sales tax, excise duty etc) when he buys a piece of soap from the market.
The citizens therefore, have a right to know how their money was being spent. These
three principles were laid down by the Supreme Court while saying that RTI is a part of
our fundamental rights.

If RTI is a fundamental right, then why do we need an Act to give us this right?

This is because if you went to any Government Department and told the officer there,
“RTI is my fundamental right, and that I am the master of this country. Therefore, please
show me all your files”, he would not do that. In all probability, he would throw you out of
his room. Therefore, we need a machinery or a process through which we can exercise
this fundamental right. Right to Information Act 2005, which became effective on 13th
October 2005, provides that machinery. Therefore, Right to Information Act does not
give us any new right. It simply lays down the process on how to apply for information,
where to apply, how much fees etc.

When did RTI Act come into force?

The Central Right to Information Act came into force on the 12th October, 2005.
However, before that 9 state Governments had passed state Acts. These were J & K,
Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam &
Goa.

What rights are available under RTI Act 2005?

Right to Information Act 2005 empowers every citizen to

q Ask any questions from the Government or seek any information

q Take copies of any government documents

q Inspect any government documents.

q Inspect any Government works

q Take samples of materials of any Government work.

Who is covered under RTI?

The Central RTI Act extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and
Kashmir. All bodies, which are constituted under the Constitution or under any law or
under any Government notification or all bodies, including NGOs, which are owned,
controlled or substantially financed by the Government are covered.

What is “substantially financed”?

This is neither defined under RTI Act nor under any other Act. So, this issue will evolve
with time, maybe through some court orders etc.

Are Private bodies covered under the RTI Act?

All private bodies, which are owned, controlled or substantially financed by the
Government are directly covered. Others are indirectly covered. That is, if a government
department can access information from any private body under any other Act, the same
can be accessed by the citizen under the RTI Act through that government department.

Isn’t Official Secrets Act 1923 an obstacle to the implementation of RTI Act?

No. Sec 22 of the RTI Act 2005 clearly says that RTI Act would over ride all existing Acts
including Officials Secrets Act.

Can the PIO refuse to give me information?

A PIO can refuse information on 11 subjects that are listed in section 8 of the RTI Act.
These include information received in confidence from foreign governments, information
prejudicial to security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the country, breach of
privilege of legislatures, etc.

There is a list of 18 agencies given in second schedule of the Act to which RTI Act does
not apply. However, they also have to give information if it relates to matters pertaining
to allegations of corruption or human rights violations.

Does the Act provide for partial disclosure?

Yes. Under Section 10 of the RTI Act, access may be provided to that part of the record
which does not contain information which is exempt from disclosure under this Act.

Can access be denied to file notings?

No. File notings are an integral part of the government file and are subject to disclosure
under the Act. This has been clarified by the Central Information Commission in one of
its orders on 31st Jan 2006.

How to use Right to Information

How do I locate the full Act?

The full Act in Hindi and English is available on the website of Department of Personnel
and Training www.persmin.nic.in. It is also available on this website.
Who will give me information?

One or more existing officers in every Government Department have been designated
as Public Information Officers (PIO). These PIOs act like nodal officers. You have to file
your applications with them. They are responsible for collecting information sought by
you from various wings of that Department and providing that information to you. In
addition, several officers have been appointed as Assistant Public Information Officers
(APIOs). Their job is only to accept applications from the public and forward it to the right
PIO.

Where do I submit application?

You can do that with the PIO or with APIO. In the case of all Central Government
Departments, 629 post offices have been designated as APIOs. This means that you
can go to any of these post offices and submit your fee and application at the RTI
counter in these post offices. They will issue you a receipt and acknowledgement and it
is the responsibility of that post office to deliver it to the right PIO. The list of these post
offices is given at http://www.indiapost.gov.in/rtimanual16a.html

Is there any fee? How do I deposit that?

Yes, there is an application fee. For Central Government Departments, it is Rs 10.

However, different states have prescribed different fee. For details see rules framed by
the states on this website. For getting information, you have to pay Rs 2 per page of
information provided for Central Government Departments. It is different for different
states. Similarly, there is a fee for inspection of documents. There is no fee for first hour
of inspection, but after that, you have to pay Rs. 5 for every subsequent hour or fraction
thereof. This is according to Central Rules. For each state, see respective state rules.
You can deposit fee wither in cash or through a DD or bankers cheque or postal order
drawn in favor of that public authority. In some states, you can buy court fee stamps and
affix it on your application. This would be treated as if you have deposited the fee. You
can then deposit your application either by post or by hand.

What should I do if the PIO or the concerned Department does not accept my
application?

You can send it by post. You should also make a formal complaint to the respective
Information Commission under section 18. The Information Commissioner has the power
to impose a penalty of Rs 25000 on the concerned officer who refused to accept your
application.

Is there an application form for seeking information?

For Central Government Departments, there is no form. You should apply on a plain
sheet of paper like an ordinary application. However, many states and some ministries
and departments have prescribed formats. You should apply in these formats. Please
read rules of respective states to know

How can I apply for information?

Draft your application on a normal sheet of paper and submit it by post or in person to
the Public Information Officer (PIO). [Remember to keep a copy of the application for
your personal reference]

How can I deposit my application fee?

Every state has a different mode of payment for application fee. Generally, you can
deposit your application fee via:

• In person by paying cash [remember to take your receipt]

• By Post through:
• Demand Draft
• Indian Postal Order
• Money orders (only in some states)
• Affixing Court fee Stamp (only in some states)
• Banker’s cheque
• Some state governments have prescribed some head of account. You are
required to deposit fee in that account. For that, you can either go to any branch
of SBI and despoist cash in that account and attach deposit receipt with your RTI
application. Or you can also send a postal order or a DD drawn in favour of that
account alongwith your RTI application.

Please see respective state rules for complete details.

Can I submit my application only with the PIO?

No, in case the PIO is not available you can submit your application with the Assistant
PIO or any other officer designated to accept the RTI applications.

Where can I locate the concerned PIO?

A list of PIOs/APIOs and Appellate Authorities for all Central and State
departments/Ministries is available online at www.rti.gov.in

What if I can not locate my PIO or APIO?

In case you have problems locating your PIO/APIO you can address your RTI
application to the PIO C/o Head of Department and send it to the concerned public
authority with the requisite application fee. The Head of Department will have to forward
your application to the concerned PIO.

Do I have to personally go to deposit my application?

Depending on your state rules for mode of payment you can deposit your application for
information from the concerned departments of your state government via post by
attaching a DD, Money Order, Postal Order or affixing Court fee Stamp

For all Central government departments the Department of Posts has designated 629
postal offices at the national level. The designated officers in these post offices work as
Assistant PIOs and collect the application to forward to the concerned PIO. A list is
available on http://www.indiapost.gov.in/rticontents.html

Is there a time limit to receiving information?

Yes. If you file your application with the PIO, you must receive information within 30
days.

In case you have filed your application with Assistant PIO then information has to be
made available within 35 days.

In case the matter to which the information pertains affects the life and liberty of an
individual, information has to be made available in 48 hours.

Do I have to give reasons why I want a particular information?

Absolutely not! You are not required to give any reasons or additional information other
than your contact details (i.e., Name, Address, and Phone No.). Sec 6(2) clearly says
that no information other than contact details of the applicant shall be asked.

Can the PIO refuse to accept my RTI application?

No. The PIO can not refuse to accept your application for information under any
circumstances. Even if the information does not pertain to his/her
department/jurisdiction, s/he has to accept it. If the application does not pertain to that
PIO, he would have to transfer it to the right PIO within 5 days under sec 6(2).

Why is it that RTI works when no other law has worked

There have been many good laws in this country but none of those laws worked.
Why do you think this law would work?

This law is already working. This is because for the first time in the history of
independent India, there is a law which casts a direct accountability on the officer for
non-performance. If concerned officer does not provide information in time, a penalty of
Rs 250 per day of delay can be imposed by the Information Commissioner. If the
information provided is false, a penalty of a maximum of Rs 25000 can be imposed. A
penalty can also be imposed for providing incomplete or for rejecting your application for
malafide reasons. This fine is deducted from the officer’s personal salary.

Has any penalty been imposed so far?

Yes, some officers have been penalized by the Central as well as State Information
Commissioners.

Does the Applicant get the amount fined to the PIO?

No. The amount fined is deposited in the government treasury. However, under sec 19,
the applicant can seek compensation.

What should I do if I do not receive satisfactory information

What can I do if I do not receive information?

If you do not receive information or are dissatisfied with the information received, you
can file an appeal with the first appellate authority under section 19 (1) of the right to
Information Act.

Who is a First Appellate authority?

Every public authority must designate a First Appellate Authority. This officer designated
is the officer senior in rank to your PIO.

Is there a form for the first appeal?

No there is no form for filing a first appeal (but some state governments have prescribed
a form). Draft your appeal application on a blank sheet of paper addressed to the First
Appellate Authority. Remember to attach a copy of your original application and a copy
of the reply in whatever form (if received) from the PIO.

Do I have to pay a fee for the first appeal?

No. You are not required to pay any fee for the first appeal. However, some state
governments have prescribed a fee.

In how many days can I file my first appeal?

You can file your first appeal within 30 days of receipt of information or within 60 days of
filing RTI application (if no information received).

What if I do not receive the information after the first appeal process?

If you do not receive information even after the first appeal then you can take the matter
forward to the second appeal stage.

What is a second appeal?

A second appeal is the last option under the RTI Act to get the information requested.
You can file second appeal with the Information Commission. For appeals against
Central Government Departments, you have Central Information Commission (CIC). For
every state Government, there is a State Information Commission.

Is there a form for the second appeal?

No there is no form for filing a second appeal (but some state governments have
prescribed a form for second appeal too). Draft your appeal application on a normal
sheet of paper addressed to the Central or State Information Commission. Carefully read
the appeal rules before drafting your second appeal. Your second appeal application can
be rejected if it does not comply with the appeal rules.

Do I have to pay a fee for the second appeal?

No. You are not required to pay any fee for the second appeal. However, some states
have prescribed a fee for that.

In how many days can I file my second appeal?

You can file your second appeal within 90 days of disposal of first appeal or within 90
days of the date, by when first appeal was to be decided.

How does this law help me in getting my work done

How does this law work so effectively for pending works i.e. why is it that the
government officials end up doing your work which they were not doing earlier?

Let us take the case of Nannu. He was not being given his ration card. But when he
applied under RTI, he was given a card within a week. What did Nannu ask? He asked
the following questions:

1. I filed an application for a duplicate ration card on 27th January 2004. Please tell
me the daily progress made on my application so far. i.e. when did my
application reach which officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what
did he/she do during that period?
2. According to the rules, my card should have been made in 10 days. However, it
is more than three months now. Please give the names and designations of the
officials who were supposed to take action on my application and who have not
done so?
3. What action would be taken against these officials for not doing their work and for
causing harassment to the public? By when would that action be taken?
4. By when would I get my card now?

In normal circumstances, such an application would be thrown in a dustbin. But this law
says that the Government has to reply in 30 days. If they don’t do that, their salary could
be deducted. Now, it is not easy to answer these questions.

The first question is – please provide the daily progress made on my application.

There is no progress made. But the government officials cannot write in these many
words that they have not acted for so many months. Else that would be admission of
guilt on paper.

The next question is – please provide the names and designations of the officers who
were supposed to take action on my application and who had not done so
If the government provides names and designations of the officials, their responsibility
gets fixed. Any officer is most scared of fixing of responsibility against him in this
manner. So, the moment one files such an application, his/her pending work is done.

What should I do after getting information?

There cannot be one answer for that. It depends on why you asked for that information
and what type of information is it. Often a lot of things start falling in place just by asking
for information. For instance, you would get your passport or a ration card just by your
asking for the status of your application. In many cases, roads got repaired as soon as
the money spent on its repairs in the last few repairs was asked. So, seeking information
and questioning the government is an important step, which in itself is complete in many
cases.

But suppose you expose some corruption or wrongdoing using RTI. Then, you can
complain to vigilance agencies, CBI or even file an FIR. But it is seen that the
Government does not take any action against the guilty even after repeated complaints.
Though one can keep up the pressure on vigilance agencies by seeking to know the
status of complaints under RTI, however, the wrongdoings can also be exposed through
media. However, experience has not been very encouraging at getting guilty punished.
But one thing is certain. Seeking information like this and exposing wrongdoings does
improve the future. The officials get a clear message that the people of that area have
become alert and any wrongdoings in future would not remain hidden as they were in
the past. So, their risks of getting caught increase.

Won’t I be victimized if I used RTI

Have people been victimized who used RTI and exposed corruption?

Yes, there have been some instances where people were physically harmed when they
sought information which exposed large scale corruption. But this does not mean that
ever applicant faces such a threat. Filing application to seek status of your grievance or
for knowing other similar routine matters does not invite any retaliation. It is only when
information is likely to expose bureaucratic-contractor nexus or any kind of mafia that
there could be a possibility of retaliation.

Then why should I use RTI?

The entire system has become so rotten that if all of us individually and together do not
do our bit, it will never improve. If we don’t do it, who will? Therefore, we have to act. But
we should do that with a strategy and minimize risks. And with experience, there are
some safeguards and strategies available.

What are these strategies?

Please go ahead and file RTI application for any issue in the first instance. Normally,
anyone would not attack you immediately. They would first try to cajole you or win you
over. So, the moment you file any inconvenient application, someone would approach
you very politely to request you to withdraw that application. You should gauge the
seriousness or the potential of the person approaching you. If you consider it to be
serious enough, ask 15 of your friends to immediately apply to the same public authority
asking for same information. It would be better if these 15 friends were from different
part of India. Now, it would be most difficult for anyone to target all of your 15 friends all
across the country. And if they threaten anyone from amongst the 15, let more people
file similar applications. Your friends from other parts of India can file their applications
by post. Try and give it wide media publicity. This will ensure that you will get the
requisite information, and you would have sufficiently minimized risks.

Bureaucracy’s fears

Can’t people blackmail government servants by obtaining information?

Let us ask ourselves – what does RTI do? It just brings truth in public domain. It does
not create any information. It just removes curtains and brings truth in public domain. Is
that bad? When can it be misused? Only if an officer has done something wrong and if
that information comes out in public. Is it bad that wrongdoings within the Government
should become public and be exposed rather than keeping it under wraps. Yes, once
such information is obtained by someone, he could go and blackmail that officer. But
why do we wish to protect wrong officers. If any officer is blackmailed, he/she has
options available under Indian Penal Code to go register an FIR against a blackmailer.
Let that officer do that. However, we can even avoid the possibility of any individual
officer from being blackmailed by any individual complainant by putting all information,
sought by any applicant, on the website. An applicant is able to blackmail an officer only
when that applicant is the only person who obtained that information and threatens to
make that public. But if all information sought by him were to be put on website, the
possibility of blackmail would be substantially reduced.

Won’t Government get flooded with RTI applications and won’t it jam government
machinery?

These fears are hypothetical. There are more than 65 countries in the world, which have
RTI laws. There are nine states in India, who had RTI laws, before this law was passed
by the Parliament. None of these Governments were flooded with applications. Such
fear emanates from an assumption that the people do not have anything to do and are
totally free. Filing an RTI application and pursuing it takes time, energies and resources.
Unless a person really wants any information, he/she does not file it.

Let us consider some statistics. In Delhi, 14000 applications have been filed in 120
departments in more than 60 months. This means less than 2 applications per
Department per month. Can we say that Delhi Government got flooded with RTI
applications? In sharp contrast, US Government received 3.2 million applications under
their RTI Act during 2003-04. This is despite the fact that unlike India, most of the
Government information is already available on the net and there should be much less
need for the people to file applications. But US Government is not contemplating
scrapping the RTI Ac. On the contrary they are setting aside more and more resources
to implement it. During the same year, they spent $ 32 million to implement it.

Won’t it require huge amount of resources to implement RTI Act?

Any amount of resources required to implement RTI Act would be well spent. Most
countries like the US have realized it and are already spending huge resources to make
their governments transparent. Firstly, all the cost spent on RTI gets more than
recovered the same year by the amounts of money that the Government saves due to
reduction in corruption and malpractices. For instance, there is strong evidence to show
how leakages in drought relief program in Rajasthan and Public Distribution System in
Delhi substantially reduced due to extensive use of RTI.

Secondly, RTI is very essential for democracy. It is a part of our fundamental right. For
people to participate in governance, the pre-requisite is that they first know what is going
on. So, just the way we treat all expenses made on the running of our Parliament as
essential, we have to treat all expenses made in the implementation of RTI as essential.

But often people file applications to settle personal scores etc?

As written above, RTI simply brings truth in public domain. It does not create information.
Any attempt at hiding truth or putting a cover over it is not in the best interests of society.
Rather than serving any useful purpose, any attempt at promoting secrecy would only
increase the scope for corruption and wrongdoing. Therefore, our entire efforts should
be to make governance completely transparent. However, if anyone blackmails
someone subsequently, there are ample provisions under law to address that. Secondly,
there are sufficient safeguards under sec 8 of RTI Act. It states that any information,
which relates to private affairs of any individual and has no public interest would not be
disclosed. Therefore, the existing laws have sufficient provisions available to address
genuine concerns of the people.

How to avoid people from filing frivolous applications?

THERE IS NO FRIVOLOUS APPLICATION. What is frivolous? My pending water

connection could be the most critical issue for me, but it could be treated as frivolous by
a bureaucrat. Some vested interests within the bureaucracy have raised this bogey of
frivolous applications. Right now, RTI Act does not permit any application to be rejected
on the ground that it was frivolous. But some section of bureaucracy want the PIO to be
empowered to reject any application if he feels that it was frivolous. If that happens,
every PIO will declare every other application to be frivolous and reject it. It would mean
a death knell to RTI.

File notings should not be made public as that would prevent honest officers from
rendering honest advice?

This is wrong. On the contrary, every officer would now know that whatever he writes on
the file would be subject to public scrutiny. This would force him to write things which are
in best public interest. Some honest bureaucrats have admitted in private that RTI has
helped them immensely in warding off political and other undue influences. Now, the
officers simply say that if they did the wrong thing, they might get exposed if someone
asked for that information. Therefore, officers have started insisting that the seniors gave
directions in writing. The Government is learnt to be contemplating removing file notings
from the purview of RTI Act. For the above reasons, it is absolutely essential that file
notings should be allowed to be covered under RTI Act.
Civil servant has to make decisions under many pressures and the public will not
understand this?

As discussed above, on the contrary, possibility of exposures to illegitimate pressures

would reduce.

Government records are not in proper shape. How could RTI be implemented?

RTI would force the system to start maintaining records properly now. Else the officials
would face a penalty under the Act

Applications seeking voluminous information should be rejected?

If I seek for some information, which runs into a lakh of pages, I would do that only if I
need it because I will have to pay Rs 2 lakhs for that.This is an automatic deterrent. If
application were rejected only on this account, the applicant could break his application
and file 1000 applications seeking 100 pages through each application, which would not
benefit anyone. Therefore, applications should not be rejected only on this pretext.

People should be allowed to seek information only about themselves. They should not
be allowed to ask questions about other spheres of governance, totally unrelated to the.

Sec 6(2) of RTI Act clearly says an applicant cannot be questioned why he/she were
asking for any information. In any case, RTI flows from the fact that people pay taxes,
This money belongs to them and therefore, they have a right to know how their money
were being spent and how they were being governed. So, people have a right to know
everything about every sphere of governance. They may or may not be directly related
to the matter. So, even a person living in Delhi can ask for any information from say,
Tamil Nadu.