Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information.

It is an initiative taken byDepartment of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to provide a RTI PortalGateway to the citizens for quick search of information on the details of first Appellate Authorities,PIOs etc. amongst others, besides access to RTI related information / disclosures published on the web by various Public Authorities under the government of India as well as the State Governments. Thanks for visiting our site.

What is Right to Information?

Every citizen has a right to know how the Government is functioning. Right to Information
empowers every citizen to seek any information from the Government, inspect any Government documents and seek certified photocopies thereof. Some laws on Right to Information also empower citizens to official inspect any Government work or to take sample of material used in any work. Right to Information includes the right to: 1. 2. 3. 4. Inspect works, documents, records. Take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records. Take certified samples of material. Obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video , cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts.

"information" means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, emails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force. "record" includes: a) Any document, manuscript and file b) Any microfilm, microfiche, and facsimile copy of a document c) Any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm (whether enlarged or not); and d) Any other material produced by a computer or any other device; An applicant cannot ask for opinions/advice/views under the RTI Act, unless the opinion/advice/view is already on "record". However, under Section 4(1)(d), an applicant can ask for "reasons" behind a administrative or quasi judicial decision of a public authority, especially if he is a "affected person". Tags: definition, Act, information, record

Aruna Roy lambasts PM for statement on RTI amendments

TNN | Oct 16, 2011, 06.04AM IST

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Read More:People's Right To Information|Manmohan Singh|Aruna Roy

PANAJI: Founder member of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information(NCPRI) Aruna Roy on Saturday condemned the statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhthat the Right To Information Act was adversely affecting deliberations in the government and deterring honest officials from expressing their views on file. Roy was speaking at a seminar on 'Strengthening participatory democracy: Role of RTI' at the International Centre Goa, Dona Paula. "The Prime Minister has made a statement that I completely disagree with. My seven-year period in government was fraught with corruption," said Roy, considered by many as one of the architects of the RTI Act. Countering Singh's claims of bureaucratic inefficiency, the Magsaysay award winner said the killings of RTI activists was of much more concern than the RTI affecting government functioning. "I'm much more concerned about the lives of RTI activists being killed. What have you done to protect our lives?" she sought to know from the PM. Stating that even earlier, bureaucrats were not making file notings, Roy said, "No one wanted to take the onus (to make a noting) if it was a critical issue." Stating that transparency benefits the system, Roy said, "We reject the suggestion that transparency makes bureaucrats inefficient. The government has always been inefficient. Papers accessed by us through RTI have proved this." She opined that transparency actually aids honest bureaucrats, and felt that due to RTI, honest bureaucrats can make notings on files in the confidence that disclosure of the file notings under RTI would vindicate the honest stands they take. "In the last six years, information received by the people has created upheaval in governance. What has upset the system is the scams. Instead of welcoming transparency, the persistence for amendments is wrong," she added. Nikhil Dey, co-convener of NCPRI, too, was critical of the proposal for amendments and said, "We completely oppose amendments in RTI. The prime minister is saying the RTI affects bureaucratic functioning, but it is the opposite. It is a great benefit for honest officers as earlier their notings were being hidden."

"The government has consistently said that amendments will be done only after putting them in the public domain. It should not slip in amendments like it did the first time," Dey added. Roy also lambasted the removal of the CBI from the purview of the RTI. How can the government talk of a Lokpal on one side and remove the CBI from the purview of the RTI? she wondered. "Eighty per cent of cases investigated by the CBI are corruption cases," Roy added. The chairman of the Planning Commission has said all public-private-partnerships will also be outside the purview of the RTI. How can this be done when the state provides facilities like electricity and water to these projects? she questioned.

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Post a Comment Sort by:Newest|Oldest|Recommended (2)|Most Discussed|Agree Ivo Oscar Faleiro (Margao) 51 mins ago (09:57 AM) How can transparency makes bureaucrats inefficient, Mr. Prime Minister? On the contrary, transparency should make bureaucrats efficient. In this regard, I totally support Aruna Roy for lambasting PM for statement on RTI amendments.

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Goemkar (Goa) 3 hrs ago (07:48 AM) When will Goas politicians be jailed for corruption? When BS Yeddurappa went to jail today leaving behind his bullet proof car, pilot vehicles at the front and back and all the trappings of a Chief Minister, the initial reaction was that he was caught and bowled by the Lokayukta on his role in promoting huge illegal mining interests in Karnataka. However, what he has gone to jail for is perhaps no less an alleged offence, He has been charged with willfully denotifying huge tracts of land meant for public causes and interests and handing them over to his trusted friends-real or bought- and relatives. This has a chilling similarity in a recent case in Goa, where the Chief Minister, the Revenue Minister and the Deputy Speaker are all involved in de-notifying 36,800 square meters of land to one Bernard Costa, earmarked for the expansion of the Dabolim airport. This land was gifted back to Costa on Valentines Day, inspite of a clear objection by the Airports Authority of India as well as some people in the Goa government as well. This land was badly needed by the airports authority, since the main parking annexe was supposed to have come on that land. This land would also house the barracks of the CRPF and other security personnel. The loss of this land has actually severely hampered the entire expansion project. And all this to give land back to one man with influence and money. The story does not end, but just begins here. The land was given because he was a son of the soil who needed land for his housing. Barely three months after the land was de-notified and given back to him, he sold it to builders who in turn are selling off plots to build houses at huge prices. This entire move was backed by a troika of the Chief Minister, Revenue Minister Jose Philip DSouza and the Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho. The last two are bitter political rivals but came together to seal this deal with Costa. Let us not forget that when land acquisition takes place, the homeless and landless are the ones actually dispossessed. They hardly ever get the same recognition and benefits that a rich Bernard Costa got. Costa got to attend the meeting with the Chief Minister, Revenue Minister Deputy Speaker and the Chief Secretary among others, which discussed and gave a stamp of approval to the plan to give him the land back. How many poor people in Goa get even a patient hearing in front of the local mamlatdar about their land related grievances? If Yedurappa has gone to jail for denotifying land to favour his kith and kin, a similar investigation should be done by a neutral investigation agency even before the Lok Ayukta is constituted. And is not , then this should be one of the first cases that the new Lokayukta should take up where the Chief Minister himself will be under the purview of investigation as per the revised 2003 Lok Ayukta bill. Let there be a thorough probe to see if financial gratification was meted out to politicians here.

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rkg (sfo) 3 hrs ago (07:26 AM) pm is right that rti is making the govt inefficient and is causing delays in taking decisions. NOW GOVT/POLITICIANS/BUREAUCRATS CAN NOT DO SCAMS EFFICIENTLY. DECISIONS ARE GETTING DELAYED AS THEY HAVE TO BE TAKEN KEEPING IN VIEW THE RTI WHILE WHILE INDULGING IN CORRUPTION.

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Praveen (delhi) replies to rkg 3 mins ago (10:45 AM) it is not only PM it is it is others also who are afraid of RTI and are indulging all efforts to get rid of so called damaging sections for those be amended

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