- Its Your Right to Ask !!
- Have you ever imagined you can question the MLA of your town to give the status of his MLA development fund ?
- Have you ever imagined you can question, in fact, any govt department and get response within 30 days of your request ?
Now, all these and more, are absolutely possible by RIGHT TO INFORMATION Act. 12th October, 2005 was the day when Government of India took the revolutionary step in democracy by enacting the RIGHT TO INFORMATION Act in all the States of India except J&K.
The RTI Act enables any Indian Citizen to seek information from the public authority by submitting a written application and by paying a minimal fee of Rs.10/-. The citizens can seek any information except those would affect the integrity and sovereignty of India.
The Indian Government has formed a Hierarchical Committee structure to implement this RTI act.
- A Central Information Commission (CIC) headed by the Prime Minister of India
- A State Information Commission for each state headed by the Chief Minister of the State.
- A Public Information Officer (PIO) for each department to handle and process the RTI applications filed against his department.
If you want to file an application under RTI act to seek an information, all you have to do is apply in a State Government prescribed Application form or in a Plain Paper to the concerned PIO. You should deposit Rs 10 application fee either in cash or through DD or postal order.
The PIO should respond within 30 days of reception of the application . If the information is concerned with the Life or Liberty of the person, the PIO should respond within 48 hours . If the applicant dint get the response in the stipulated time, a fine of Rs.250/- per day will be levied on the PIO.
If there is no response within 100 days , then the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission will take appropriate disciplinary action against the PIO.
A Sword is as mightier as the Warrior and it applies the same for RTI too. One can do wonders with the help of this act. Since its inception , this act has turned the sluggish passive govt officials to respond with pace. There are numerous cases in which RTI came into rescue of the common man.
Though the awareness of RTI is less among the people, it is fast catching up and many NGOs are working toward it.
Success Stories :
- An RTI application exposed misuse of power by Union Minister of State for Food Processing, SubodhKant Sahay , to transfer a government officer during 2006.
- Street lights and roads in Whitefield area in Hyderabad were made functional by an RTI activist during Dec 2007
- A residents' welfare activist from Chennai has used the Right to Information Act to settle a 15-year-long dispute with the local Municipality over property tax assessment.
Many Stories tell the unleashed power of Right to Information Act and you can also be the next person to use RTI for the betterment of the common people.
For more information visit http://righttoinformation.gov.in/
To know the Public Information Officers of various departments http://www.rti.gov.in/states
Few RTI activist organizations