MGM_SJMSOM_IITB_RTI

04/28/2023 1

MGM

04/28/2023 2

RTI-Introduction

The Right to Information Act (RTI) is an Act of the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens" and replaced the erstwhile Freedom of information Act, 2002.

Purpose: • Promote transparency and accountability in every 

public authority• Reduce corruption• Make citizens part of decision making• Make administration responsive• Bridge the gap between provider and recipient of 

public services

This law empowered Indian citizens to seek information from Public Authorities, thus making the Government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible.

BackgroundUnder the provisions of the Act, any citizen may request information from a "public authority" which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days.

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Process and Exclusion

Written/online request for information to the department (Rs.10)

PIO(Public information officer)/APIO processes the request

Information accepted /denied

Information delivered within 30 days(direct PIO) 35 days(APIO request)

• If life or liberty of any person is involved, the PIO is 

expected to reply within 48 hours• Information concerning corruption and Human Rightsviolations by security agencies is to be 

provided within 45 days

Exclusions• Information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India• Information regarding Central Intelligence and Security agencies like IB, RAW, CBI ,etc.• Information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity

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Upload & Update suo-motu disclosure

E-filling of RTI Applications

Online Receipt and Disposal of RTI 

Applications & Appeals

Maintenance of Information Registers,etc.

Generate Annual Report

Respond to Opinion  of Citizen

Obtain Information from suo-motu Disclosure Generate Annual ReportSubmit Online RTI 

Application & First AppealCheck Online Application 

StatusFloat Opinion on suo-

motu Disclosure

Participatory Approach in Decision Making Process

Respond to Opinion of Citizen

Generate Comprehensive Annual 

Report

Monitor the progress of RTI Implementation of all sub-ordinate offices  

Online audit of suo-motu disclosure

Generate Annual Report

Monitor RTI Implementation

Check Progress of Online Applications

RTI Central Monitoring Mechanism

Nodal Department 

and  Information Commission

Citizen

Commissioner cum-

Secretaries of 

Departments

Public Authorities 

(from Secretariat 

to Panchayat)

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“ My experiments with Truth-RTI”

“It was all about marks and cut off• Process was smooth, but there was confusion regarding whose door to knock at• Yes. It is true. It costs Rs. 10• It was transferred from Higher education department to that college• Reply was late. I got some data but my questions were not answered and my questions for them were entirely different• Lot of subjectivity involved in the format of RTI• So basically I was feeling same after RTI”

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Findings

45% of the people in our survey are aware of the RTI and the process of RTI  

10% of the people surveyed actually filed RTI

National survey(www.)

• Quality of information from the RTI is not satisfactory 

• People are made to make multiple visits to the PIO office

• Non availability of a user guide/ manualfor filing an RTI is one of the key issue in RTIawareness

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

50.00%

Means of filing RTI

PIO Office Post Online

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Stakeholders of RTI

Demand side

Supply side

Adjudicatoryside

Stakeholders of RTI

• Citizens • RTI applicants• Past applicants

• PIO/APIO• Nodal department

• Information Commission• Judiciary

Gaps in the RTI is identified based on the Stakeholders concerned 

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Gap in Demand side• Low public awareness• Quality of awareness• Constraints faced in filing application• Poor quality of information provided

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Male vs. Female awareness(%) levels

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Urban vs. Rural awareness(%) levels

12%

33%26%

13%

Rural UrbanFemaleMale

48%52%

Reply satisfactionSatisfied Non Satisfactory

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Gap in supply slide

• Failure to provide information within 30 day• Inadequate trained PIOs and First Appellate Authorities• Obsolete record management Guidelines• Non-availability of basic Infrastructure • Lack of motivation among PIOs

57%

21%

13%

9%

Visits to public authority

1 Time 2 Times 3-5 times >5 times

49%

17%

34%

Assistance provided by PIOsNo Help Available Person available Manual available

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Gaps in Adjudicatory• No SIC Annual reports• Lack of Monitoring and Review mechanism• High level of pendency • Perception of being “lenient” towards PIOs• Geographical spread of the Information Commissions 

TRAINING TO PIO

No training Training provided

Only 1.74% of PIOs were actually penalized by Information committee 

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Vulnerabilities

• The Government and Judiciary are not very keen on the RTI Act and may try to amend it in order to render it toothless. • Government departments are rushing to courts to get stay orders against the decisions of Information Commissions to provide information to common man. • Recent political party exclusion amendment will weaken the law • Highly Manual system of information of government institutions

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Recommendation-Structure

Applicant

Information Officer Help center/Online Manual

Government Department

Information Committee

Central Agency

Appellate Authority

Central Repository

• Involve in the record management of the appeals to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act• Issue the guidelines required for the implementation of the act to be prepared, advertised and distributed• Cause statistics to be collected on an annual basis for the purpose of assessing the compliance of Government institutions

Functions of Agency

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Recommendation for demand side

• Massive awareness campaign ( jago grahak jago , Hum do hamare do)•  This campaign should be divided into  two parts. - National awareness program - State specific awareness program• Introduce Anonymous RTI filing system for the convenience of the people • Creation/Strengthening of a brand identity for RTI (Brand logo, tag line etc.) • Increase the awareness in digital platform, social Media etc.• RTI Education should be introduced in the school syllabus. Nodal Department should work with Educational Boards in drafting a section on RTI in the school syllabus

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Recommendation for supply side

• Creation of RTI Implementation Cell/RTI call centre by appropriate Governments• Strengthening implementation set-up at Public Authority • Annual self assessment by Nodal Departments• Address issues relating motivation of PIOs •  Improving convenience in filing requests •  Single window for submitting RTI requests across the country which Would enable creation of centralized database of RTI applicants • Usage of Web-based applications for Public Authorities 

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Recommendation for Information commission• Creation of more offices and using Video Conferencing for Hearings• Composition of Information Commissions (currently 27 of 60 commissioners are retired officers)• Usage of Standard Templates for passing order• Third party audit to ensure compliance with provisions/ guidelines of the RTI Act by  Public Authorities• Arrange more training on Basic RTI fact and behavioural aspect of PIO’s• Designating Information Officers and Appellate Authorities (empowering PIO’s)• Earmarking budget for implementing the recommendations

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Thank You