A TOOL TO IMPROVE TRANSPERENCY IN

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

RIGHT TO INFORMATION
ACT
WHAT IS RTI ?
RTI stands for "Right to Information". Right to
Information is a fundamental right that every
citizen has.
The Act extends to the whole of India except the
State of Jammu and Kashmir. [S.(12)]
Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen
(excluding the citizens within J&K) may request
information from a "public authority"
HISTORY OF RTI
Information disclosure in India was previously
restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and
various other special laws, which the new RTI Act
now relaxes.

It was passed on 15th June 2005 by the Parliament
of India and came fully into force on 12 October
2005.

The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of
India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir -
which is covered under a State-level law.
What does Right to Information
mean?
It Includes the Right to -
Take notes, extracts or certified copies of
documents or records.
Obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes,
floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other
electronic mode.
Inspect works, documents, records.
Take certified samples of material.
NEED FOR RTI
Simply because if you go
into a Govt. office and
demand that they tell you
why your work has not
been done, they will not
entertain you or might even
throw you out.
But, If its a law, Then it
becomes harder to do this.
If they do not give you the
information you want, they
will have broken a law and
can be punished for it.

AIM & OBJECTIVES OF RTI
Transparency & Accountability in the working of
every Public authority
The duty of Govt. to pro-actively make available
key information to all (Sec 4).
A responsibility on all sections: Citizens, NGOs,
Media.
The right of any citizen of India to request access to
information and the corresponding duty of Govt. to meet
the request, except the exempted information (Sec. 8/9).
WHAT DOES INFORMATION
MEAN?
Any material held in any form including :-
Records
Documents
Memos
Opinions & Advices
Press releases
Circulars, Orders & logbooks
Contracts
Reports, Papers samples & models
WHAT DOES PUBLIC
AUTHORITY MEAN?
It means any authority or body or institution
of self government established or
constituted: [S.2(h)]
By or under the Constitution;
By any other law made by Parliament;
By notification issued or order made by the
appropriate Government. and includes any-
Body owned, controlled or substantially financed
Non-Government organization substantially
financed directly or indirectly by the appropriate
Government.

WHAT IS NOT OPEN TO
DISCLOSURE?
The following information is exempted from disclosure
(S.8)
Which would prejudicially affect the independence
and integrity of India.
Security, Strategic, Scientific or Economic interests
of the State.
Relation with Foreign State.
Lead to Incitement of an Offence.
Information including Commercial confidence, Trade
secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of
which would harm the competitive position of a third
party.
Lets
See a Small
Video
On
Right to Information
Act
& its use..
Application Procedure for
Requesting information?
Apply in writing or through electronic means in
English or Hindi or in the official language or the
area, to the PIO(Public Information Officer),
specifying the particulars of the information
required for.

Reason for seeking information are not required
to be given;

Pay fees as may be prescribed (if not belonging
to the below poverty line category).
APPICATION PROCESS
CITIZENS
PUBLIC
INFORMATION
OFFICER
(PIO)

REQUEST
INFORMATION IN 30 DAYS
IF THE INTERESTS OF A THIRD
PARTY ARE INVOLVED THEN TIME
LIMIT WILL BE 40 DAYS
INFORMATION IN 48HOURS INCASE
OF INFORMATION REGARDING LIFE
& LIBERTY
FIRST APPEAL
First Appeal
(Internal)
The officer senior in rank to the PIO in
the concerned Public authority
(Within 30 days from the date of refusal
letter but delay may be condoned if
sufficient cause is shown)
Time limit = 30 days
SECOND APPEAL
Second Appeal
(External)
(within 90 days from the date of decision of first AA but
delay may be condoned if sufficient cause is shown)
*Appeal against ICs decision can be filed in High Courts/Supreme Court,
not lower courts
Web Site Snapshots
(http://rti.gov.in/)
Web Site Snapshots
(http://rti.gov.in/)
FILE A COMPLAINT
COMPLAINT STATUS
RTI COST
Modes Of Payment
Cash
Demand
Draft
Bankers
Cheque
Postal
Order
Court
Fee
Stamp
Application Fees
Village level
No fee
Mandal Level
Rs 5/- per
application
District and
higher Rs 10/-
per application
RTI COST
RTI
charges
Rs 2/- per
Page per
copy
CD of 700 Mb
Rs 100/-
DVD Rs
200/-
Inspection of
Records First
hour free and
Rs 5/- for each
hour thereafter
1.44 Mb
Floppy Disk
Rs 50/-
RTI SUCCESS STORY
Kapil Jain resident of Vishwas Nagar in Delhi. His neighbor
was running illegal Plastic factory.
In December2002 he filled a complaint with the Deputy
Commissioner of Police and to Sub Deputy Magistrate. He
visited SDMs office at least five times between Feb. and Aug
2003..
Then finally he filed an application under RTI act, wanting to
know what was happening to my complaint.
On September 1 he received a reply, they had forwarded his
complaint to Delhi Pollution Control Committee but no reply
had been received.
RTI SUCCESS STORY
and On September3 he filed a RTI application at DPCC.
Jain got a copy of the DPCCs letter and surprised, they
replied they had already sent an inspection report of the
unit
He himself approached the SDM with copy of DPCC and
next day the factory was sealed.