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Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law

University

Final Draft

Right to Information Act, 2005

Submitted To- Ms. Deepika Urmaliya

(Asst. Prof. Language of law)
(hons.)

Submitted from- Anurag

2ndSemester; B.A., LL.B
Section-A Roll no- 29

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Any accomplishment requires effort of many people and this work is no
different. I take this opportunity to thank - Ms. Deepika Urmaliya
(Asst. Professor) for providing me valuable training and guidance at the
various stages of my project.
I will also remain highly indebted to the librarian for providing the
requisite research material.
Lastly I am thankful to all my colleagues who have given time to help
me during the completion of the project.

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Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION..........4
CHAPTERISATION4-14

R.T.I-Meaning and Concept...5

Role played by key stakeholders6

Achieving transparency and holding corruption through RTI...7

Key issues and constraints in implementing the RTI Act..9

R.T.I- Functioning.....11

CONCLUSION...13
BIBLIOGRAPHY..15

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Introduction:
At the International level, Right to Information and its aspects find
articulation as a human right in most important basic human rights documents,
namely, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights. At regional levels, there are numerous other human rights
documents, which include this fundamental right for example, the European for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the American
Convention on Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples
Rights, etc. The Commonwealth has also formulated principles on freedom of
information1. The Indian Parliament had enacted the Freedom of Information
Act, 2002 in order to promote, transparency and accountability in
administration. The National Common Minimum Program of the Government
envisaged that Freedom of Information Act will be made more progressive,
participatory and meaningful, following which, decision was made to repeal the
Freedom of Information Act, 2002 and enact a new legislation in its place.
Accordingly, Right to Information Bill, 2004 (RTI) was passed by both the
Houses of Parliament on May, 2005 which received the assent of the President on
15th June, 2005. The Right to Information Act was notified in the Gazette of
India on 21st June, 2005. The The Right to Information Act became fully
operational from 12th October, 2005. Though, the Act was recognised since 1973
by supreme court in a case2 as a concomitant of the fundamental right to freedom
of speech and expression guaranteed under art 19(1)(a) 3.This new law empowers
Indian citizens to seek any accessible information from a Public Authority and
makes the Government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible.
During the period of the implementation of the RTI Act i.e. October 2005
onwards, it has become evident that there are many anticipated and unanticipated
consequences of the Act. These have manifested themselves in various forms,
While some of the issues pertain to procedural aspects of the Government; others
pertain to capacity building, and so on. The most important aspect to be
1 http://www.article19.org/org/pdfs/publications
2 Bennet coleman V India AIR 1973 SC 106
3 Constitution of India

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recognized is that there are issues to be addressed at various ends for effective
implementation of the Act.

3.
3.1

Chapterisation:
R.T.I- Meaning and concept

An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for
citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in
order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public
authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State
Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.4
Right to Information is an Act to provide for freedom to every citizen to secure access to
Information under the control of public authorities, consistent with Public interest, in
order to promote openness, transparency and accountability in administration and in
relation to matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION Bill was passed by the Parliament on 13thMay,
2005. The Bill got the Presidential accent on 15thJune to become the Right to
Information, Act, 2005. It is an Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right
to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public
authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every
public authority.
Informed citizenry and transparency of information are vital to the functioning of
Democracy. The Act provides for a system of accountability of the Government towards
those who are governed and would benefit in increasing transparency and containing
corruption.
The actual practice of the Act is likely to conflict with other public interests including
efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the
preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information; but the need is to harmonize this
conflicting interest while preserving the paramount of the democratic ideal.
4 Right to Information ACT 2005

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In an effort to bring about transparency and accountability and to transform the Right
of Information Act into an act that empowers the people, the Ministry of Information and
broadcasting has made an attempt to provide certain information to citizens to empower
them to exercise their Right to Information.
The Ministry in its effort to decentralize information has made all Media Units, Public
Sector Enterprises and Autonomous Bodies responsible for dissemination of
Information. These organizations will have their separate set up for public to gain
information on issues pertaining to the unit.

3.2

Role played by key stakeholders

RTI Act has the potential to bring in a socio-economic revolution, provided that various
agencies take up their responsibilities as per the spirit of the Act. The Civil Society
Organizations and Media can act as pressure points, but most of the execution is to be
carried out by
The appropriate Governments and Information Commissions. Based on the secondary
research and discussions with key stakeholders, the key roles played by various entities
are:
Civil Society Organizations.
Civil Society Organizations and social activists are enhancing the reach and awareness
of RTI among the masses. It is mostly with the support of the social activists and Civil
Society Organizations that a person in a village is able to use the RTI Act for ensuring
his
Basic rights. However given the geographical size & population, the reach of Civil
Society Organizations and social activists is limited.
Civil society has also made contribution towards training of PIOs and AAs and made
them aware of their roles and responsibilities under the RTI Act.
Media
Media has played an important role in generating awareness at a mass scale. While
there has been no major media campaign for promoting the usage of RTI Act,
nonetheless the awareness on the Act has been generated through news articles based on
RTI investigation.
In the context of RTI implementation, journalists at times have played a dual role as
the users of RTI Act and as watchdogs, monitoring and scrutinizing the implementation
of the Act.
Various media entities have contributed to the mass awareness and bringing in
transparency through their websites.
Central Government

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Basic institutional structure/processes has been set up as per the RTI act requirement
(like appointment of Information Commissioners, PIOs, section 4(1) (b) etc.)
Department of Personnel & Training has been made the Nodal Department for the RTI
implementation at the Central level.
State Government
Various State Governments had already enacted laws for access to information in some
form or the other, like Tamil Nadu (1997), Goa (1997), Rajasthan (2000), Karnataka
(2000), Delhi (2001), Maharashtra (2002), Madhya Pradesh (2003), Assam (2002) and
Jammu and Kashmir (2004).
Post the enactment of the Central Act, some State Governments have taken innovative
initiatives in line with the spirit of the Act. The key initiatives are:
- Jankari Call Centre, Government of Bihar: Bihar Government has initiated a six seater
call centre. This call centre facilitates a caller in drafting the RTI application and the fee
is collected through the phone bill. Requisite changes have been made in the rules for
acceptance of the application through this channel. Similarly RTI Helpline in Bangalore
is providing RTI information to citizens.

3.3
RTI

Achieving transparency and holding corruption through

Access to information acts are grounded in the recognition

That information in the control of public authorities is a
Valuable public resource and that public access to such information promotes greater
transparency and accountability
Of those public authorities, and that this information is essential to the democratic
process.
The purpose of these acts, also known as access to information laws, is to make a
government more open and accountable to its people. In transitional democracies, laws
that give effect to the right to information are part of the process of transforming a
country from one with a closed and authoritarian government to one governed by and for
the people. During the period, October 2005 to present day, it has become evident that
there are many anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the Act. RTI has become a
weapon in the hands of common citizens to fight for their rights. It is not surprising that
the usage of RTI has been in the areas where citizens had to struggle to get what was
rightfully theirs.
Panchayats/Municipal Departments/ Civic Bodies etc 39%

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Other Government Ministries/departments operations 29%

Information about other business 6%
Taxation Related Issues 5%

Success stories under this Campaign5

Transparency in Public Distribution
The Mere Gaon Ke Sawaal Campaign volunteers noticed that the residents of Nai Basti
(Bahraich, UP) were also facing the same problems as the other economically backward
villages of the region. The Kotedar had been apathetic towards their requests. The use
of Right to Information by the villagers, the women being in majority, was successful in
curbing the corruption that had seeped in the Public Distribution System to some extent.
When the campaign volunteers saw the BPL ration cards of the villagers, they found that
no entries had been made during February 2006 to December 2006. It was evident that
the villagers had not received any ration in the said time period. Immediately, 51 village
residents agreed to file group RTI applications on the issue and demanded information
regarding the acquisition and the distribution of the ration and also asked for copies of
the ration records. The applications were filed by the applicants personally after a lot of
difficulty at the District Supply Office. Exactly within a fortnight, the Kotedar reached
the village and narrated a long sob story, which moved few of the innocent villagers so
much that they even agreed to take back their RTI applications. They very next day the
Kotedar brought a mini bus to the village along with poor is made with one quintal
flour and asked the villagers to come to the SDMs office and take back their RTI
applications. But, the women of the forest village rights forum refused to do so. This
initiative by the women of the village encouraged the other villagers and they also
refused to take back their RTI applications. The Kotedar trying another of his tactics, one
day announced in the village that all those who requested for information can collect it
from him. When few villagers reached to take the information, they were forced to make
thumb imprints on a blank paper. The Dehat Sanstha volunteers immediately reported
this scam to the SDM. Finally, the Kotedar was suspended. Source: PACS Report

5 http://www.rti.gov.in

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The success stories range from highlighting scams worth crores to ensuring attendance
of the sweepers in cities to identifying lost postal orders etc. The areas of corruption/
inefficiencies were known earlier in the Government, but citizens could not take
recourse. However with the advent of the RTI Act, citizens have found a tool to bring in
transparency and accountability at all levels of Governance. In particular, the RTI Act
has a much higher impact on the quality of life of the poor and marginalised section of
the society.

3.4

Key issues and constraints in implementing the RTI Act

As mentioned earlier, the The Right to Information Act became operational on 12th
October, 2005. This law empowered Indian citizens to seek information from Public
Authorities, thus making the Government and its functionaries more accountable and
responsible. Unlike many other countries (for e.g. UK) which took several years to
operationalise the Act post the enactment, India took only a few months to bring it into
force. This time was inadequate to change the mindset of the people in Government,
create infrastructure, develop new processes and build capacity to deliver information
under this Act. This has led to implementation issues which need to be identified and
addressed.
Low public awareness6
Low awareness level: Section 26 of the Act states that the appropriate Government may
develop and organize educational programmes to advance the understanding of the
public, especially disadvantaged communities, regarding how to exercise the rights
contemplated under the Act. However, as per the survey it was revealed that only 15% of
the respondents were aware of the RTI Act. During the awareness survey, it was also
observed that the major sources of this awareness were:
Mass media channels like television channels, newspapers etc
Word of mouth
It was further observed that awareness level is low among the disadvantaged
communities such as:
Women: In all the five states the awareness level among women was found to be low in
comparison to men. The difference in awareness level between women and men ranged
6 www.rtiindia.org/forum/25287-4-years-rti-awareness-low.html

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from 9% to 20%. The average awareness level among women was 12% in comparison to
26% awareness level among men.
Rural population: As observed in the previous case the awareness level in rural
population was low compared to urban population. The difference in awareness level
among rural population and urban population varied from 33% in Maharashtra to 5% in
Andhra Pradesh.
OBC/SC/ST category: The awareness level among OBC/SC/ST category citizens was
low when compared to awareness level among general category citizens.
Poor quality of information provided 7
During the information seeker survey, it was also highlighted than more than 75% of
the citizens are dissatisfied with the quality of information being provided. The
corresponding figure for OBC/SC/ST category of citizens stood much higher with 86%
dissatisfied citizens. The percentage of people who said that incomplete information was
provided to them was alarmingly high in Andhra Pradesh 91% and Uttar Pradesh 96%.The quality of response provided can be a direct consequence of:
The record management practices within the Public Authority
The transparency in its processes
The training provided to the concerned PIO
Drafting of the RTI application itself
Unless these problems are addressed comprehensively by the appropriate Government
and Public Authority in tandem, it would continue to be an issue. The role of the
Information Commission assumes importance in maintaining a process to continuously
identify the Public Authorities that do not possess adequate processes and infrastructure
for compliance to the RTI Act and making them comply with the provisions of this Act
as per Section 19(8) (a).

Failure to provide information within 30 days

7 Sathe,S . Right to Information,1ed,2006.

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Currently there exist inadequate measures and processes for an Information

Commission to view the adherence levels of this important provision of the Act. The
Information Commission gets to know the failure of the Public Authority in providing
the information within 30 days (or 48 hours or 35 days or 40 days as may be the case)
once the appeal or complaint is filed. During the study, more than 50% of the
information seekers mentioned that it took more than 30 days to receive the information
from the PIO. The experience of citizens from disadvantaged communities was similar
to the overall experience levels.
As per the Act, the information has to be provided within the stipulated time.
However as per our survey it was highlighted by the PIOs that they are challenged to
provide the information within the stipulated time due to inadequate record management
procedures with the Public Authorities. It is a known fact that the record keeping process
within the Government is a big challenge. This situation is further aggravated due to
non-availability of trained PIOs and the enabling infrastructure (computers, scanners,
internet connectivity, photocopiers etc.). Public Authorities need to meet the
requirements of the RTI Act to review their current record keeping procedures and other
constraints and plan out the resources.
Lack of motivation among PIOs:
In addition to lack of resources, PIOs lack the motivation to implement RTI Act.
During the RTI workshops organised in the surveyed states, PIOs cited that there were
no incentives for taking on the responsibility of a PIO; however penalties were imposed
in cases of non compliance. It was also observed that there is a wide variance in the
seniority levels of PIOs. For example PIOs have been appointed at the level of school
teachers in the School Education Department in Andhra Pradesh. During the information
provider survey, 89% of the PIOs said that there had been no additional allocation of
staff for RTI related activities.
Appointing PIOs at a field level facilitates accessibility to the PIO. However this
may also be counterproductive, as it may lead to dilution of accountability of senior
officials.

3.5

R.T.I- Functioning

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Procedure or Process8
Under the Act, all authorities covered must appoint their Public Information
Officer (PIO). Any person may submit a request to the PIO for information in writing. It
is the PIO's obligation to provide information to citizens of India who request
information under the Act. If the request pertains to another public authority (in whole or
part), it is the PIO's responsibility to transfer/forward the concerned portions of the
request to a PIO of the other within 5 working days. In addition, every public authority
is required to designate Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) to receive RTI
requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of their public authority. The applicant is
not required to disclose any information or reasons other than his name and contact
particulars to seek the information. "Rtination" is an online system which facilitates the
filing of RTI (Right to Information Act, India) applications online. It aims primarily at
minimizing the time taken and effort required in filing an application. The Act specifies
time limits for replying to the request.

If the request has been made to the PIO, the reply is to be given within days 30 of
receipt.

If the request has been made to an APIO, the reply is to be given within 35 days
of receipt.

If the PIO transfers the request to another public authority (better concerned with
the information requested), the time allowed to reply is 30 days but computed from
the day after it is received by the PIO of the transferee authority.

Information concerning corruption and Human Rights violations by scheduled

Security agencies (those listed in the Second Schedule to the Act) is to be provided
within 45 days but with the prior approval of the Central Information Commission.

However, if life or liberty of any person is involved, the PIO is expected to reply
within 48 hours.

SCOPE9

8 Right to information ACT 2005

9 Right to information ACT 2005

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The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where J&K Right
to Information Act is in force. It is applicable to all constitutional authorities,
including the executive, legislature and judiciary; any institution or body
established or constituted by an act of Parliament or a state legislature. It is also
defined in the Act that bodies or authorities established or constituted by order or
notification of appropriate government including bodies "owned, controlled or
substantially financed" by government, or non-Government organizations
"substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds" provided by the
government are also covered in it.

4. Conclusion:
After doing so much research on RTI ACT 2005 I concluded that the Constitution of
India has established democratic Republic; and whereas democracy requires an informed
citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to
contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to
the governed;
And whereas revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with other
public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of
limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information;
And whereas it is necessary to harmonies these conflicting interests while preserving the
paramount of the democratic ideal; Now, therefore, it is expedient to provide for
furnishing certain information to citizens who desire to have it.
The recommendation for effective implantation is as follows:
Awareness:
A massive awareness campaign is necessary to educate the citizens about the RTI Act
and encourage citizen involvement. The awareness program must especially target
the vulnerable categories of citizens such as: (i) women; (ii) farmers and rural

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families; and (iii) middle and working class, for whom most of the social benefit
schemes of the Government are targeted. For this purpose, RTI awareness and
education needs to be aggressively pursued using the appropriate medium of
communication. Also adequate budget needs to be allocated by the appropriate
Governments for this initiative.
Improving convenience in filing requests
Alternative Channels for submission of RTI requests as a conducive and facilitative
environment at Government offices is a necessary condition to ensure that the citizens
are able to apply and receive information in a convenient manner.
In order to facilitate citizens in filing RTI requests/appeals the following alternate
channels should be designated as
Assistant public information officers (provided for under section 5(2)):
- Citizen Service Centres (CSCs) facilitating citizens in filing RTI applications
- Department of Posts to assist in drafting and forwarding the application/appeals
- RTI call centres
- RTI portal
- RTI resource centre in each district headquarter
Convenient options for collection of Fees
Payment Channels
As pointed out earlier, there is a need for standardization of RTI fee payment channels
and making it convenient for a citizen to file request from remote locations (even outside
the State), which is not possible if the fee has to be paid in cash.
It is recommended that the respective State Governments should issue instructions or
amend rules (as the case may be) to the Public Authorities to include convenient
payment channels for submission of RTI applications by the citizens. The collection
mode should be convenient to the citizen filing for such information from a remote
location. The options are
- Indian Postal Order

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- Demand Draft (convenient mode for requesting information remotely/outside the State)
- Department of Posts should introduce RTI Envelopes which would have an inbuilt
cost of application fee (convenient mode for requesting information remotely).
- Electronic Payment Gateway, which would be required for the payment to be made
from the RTI portals.

5. Bibliography:
Primary Source:
Using the Right to Information as an Anti-Corruption Tool-Transparency international
Right To Information, Act 2005-Bare Act
Right to Information- S.P Sathe

Secondary source:
Pratiyogita Darpan

Web source:
Wikipedia.org
Legalserviceindia.com
Rti.gov.in
www.rtiindia.org/forum

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www.article19.org