Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 73,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'catslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 73,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'catslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 74,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 74,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5447,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;Right to Information&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge....&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5447,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 5355
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Right to Information&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge....&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge...."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <br /><div align="justify">Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. <br /><br />If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. <br /><br />RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act,&quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. <br /><br />Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. <br /><br />A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. <br /><br />RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. <br /><br />The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.<br /><br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$maxBufferLength = (int) 8192
$file = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php'
$line = (int) 853
$message = 'Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853'
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Code Context
            $response->getStatusCode(),

            ($reasonPhrase ? ' ' . $reasonPhrase : '')

        ));
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5447,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;Right to Information&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge....&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5447,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 5355
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Right to Information&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge....&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge...."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <br /><div align="justify">Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. <br /><br />If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. <br /><br />RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act,&quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. <br /><br />Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. <br /><br />A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. <br /><br />RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. <br /><br />The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.<br /><br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$reasonPhrase = 'OK'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitStatusLine() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 54
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Code Context
                    $value

                ), $first);

                $first = false;
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f6e5c1e0255-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5447,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;Right to Information&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge....&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 5355,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 5447,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 5355
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Right to Information&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge....&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a &#039;hire&#039; charge. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the Department of Personal and Training&#039;s proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &amp;quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people&#039;s Act,&amp;quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &amp;quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?&#039;&#039; he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister&#039;s discretionary quota. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &amp;quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,&#039;&#039; the CIC official said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&amp;quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,&#039;&#039; Rao said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &amp;quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,&#039;&#039; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge...."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <br /><div align="justify">Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. <br /><br />If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. <br /><br />RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act,&quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. <br /><br />Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. <br /><br />A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. <br /><br />RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. <br /><br />The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.<br /><br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$cookies = []
$values = [
	(int) 0 => 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
]
$name = 'Content-Type'
$first = true
$value = 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitHeaders() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 55
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

<head>

    <link rel="canonical" href="<?php echo Configure::read('SITE_URL'); ?><?php echo $urlPrefix;?><?php echo $article_current->category->slug; ?>/<?php echo $article_current->seo_url; ?>.html"/>

    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>

$viewFile = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp'
$dataForView = [
	'article_current' => object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		'id' => (int) 5355,
		'title' => 'Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B',
		'subheading' => '',
		'description' => '<br />
<div align="justify">
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. <br />
<br />
If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. <br />
<br />
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act,&quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. <br />
<br />
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. <br />
<br />
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. <br />
<br />
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. <br />
<br />
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.<br />
<br />
</div>',
		'credit_writer' => 'The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms',
		'article_img' => '',
		'article_img_thumb' => '',
		'status' => (int) 1,
		'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
		'lang' => 'EN',
		'category_id' => (int) 16,
		'tag_keyword' => '',
		'seo_url' => 'draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447',
		'meta_title' => null,
		'meta_keywords' => null,
		'meta_description' => null,
		'noindex' => (int) 0,
		'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		'most_visit_section_id' => null,
		'article_big_img' => null,
		'liveid' => (int) 5447,
		'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'edate' => '',
		'tags' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		'[new]' => false,
		'[accessible]' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'[dirty]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[original]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[virtual]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[hasErrors]' => false,
		'[errors]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[invalid]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[repository]' => 'Articles'
	
	},
	'articleid' => (int) 5355,
	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B',
	'metaKeywords' => 'Right to Information',
	'metaDesc' => '

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge....',
	'disp' => '<br /><div align="justify">Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. <br /><br />If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. <br /><br />RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act,&quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. <br /><br />Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. <br /><br />A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. <br /><br />RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. <br /><br />The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.<br /><br /></div>',
	'lang' => 'English',
	'SITE_URL' => 'https://im4change.in/',
	'site_title' => 'im4change',
	'adminprix' => 'admin'
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	'id' => (int) 5355,
	'title' => 'Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B',
	'subheading' => '',
	'description' => '<br />
<div align="justify">
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. <br />
<br />
If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. <br />
<br />
RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act,&quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. <br />
<br />
Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. <br />
<br />
A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. <br />
<br />
RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. <br />
<br />
The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.<br />
<br />
</div>',
	'credit_writer' => 'The Times of India, 11 January, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Draft-amendments-may-sound-RTI-death-knell/articleshow/7261168.cms',
	'article_img' => '',
	'article_img_thumb' => '',
	'status' => (int) 1,
	'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
	'lang' => 'EN',
	'category_id' => (int) 16,
	'tag_keyword' => '',
	'seo_url' => 'draft-amendments-may-sound-rti-death-knell-by-viju-b-5447',
	'meta_title' => null,
	'meta_keywords' => null,
	'meta_description' => null,
	'noindex' => (int) 0,
	'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	'most_visit_section_id' => null,
	'article_big_img' => null,
	'liveid' => (int) 5447,
	'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'edate' => '',
	'tags' => [
		(int) 0 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	'[new]' => false,
	'[accessible]' => [
		'*' => true,
		'id' => false
	],
	'[dirty]' => [],
	'[original]' => [],
	'[virtual]' => [],
	'[hasErrors]' => false,
	'[errors]' => [],
	'[invalid]' => [],
	'[repository]' => 'Articles'

}
$articleid = (int) 5355
$metaTitle = 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B'
$metaKeywords = 'Right to Information'
$metaDesc = '

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge....'
$disp = '<br /><div align="justify">Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. <br /><br />If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. <br /><br />RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. &quot;The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act,&quot; Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. <br /><br />Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: &quot;The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. <br /><br />A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. &quot;Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. <br /><br />RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants.&quot; There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. <br /><br />The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. &quot;There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.<br /><br /></div>'
$lang = 'English'
$SITE_URL = 'https://im4change.in/'
$site_title = 'im4change'
$adminprix = 'admin'

include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51

Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B

Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt these rules accordingly after issuing state resolutions. RTI activists said the draft rules would kill the Act and citizens will not get adequate responses. "The manner in which the DoPT is pushing the draft rules without asking for suggestions shows they want to dilute the Act and make it ineffective. The DoPT just gave 17 days (December 10 to December 27) to invite suggestions and comments. The draft rules suggest major changes that need to be debated. The Centre should have given more time for people to respond and given far more coverage to the rules in public forums, informing everyone of these changes. After all this is a people's Act," Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. Kurla-based activist Anil Galgali agreed: "The one-query rule is really absurd. How can one just ask one query when there are so many angles to an issue?'' he asks. He cites an example wherein he had to ask at 10 questions on an issue where politicians had usurped apartments reserved for the common man under the chief minister's discretionary quota. A senior CIC official said though the one-query rule should not come into effect there should be some limitations on word count. "Some applicants send queries which are 20-25 pages long. This is plainly to harass the Public Information Officers and waste their time. Ideally all the queries can fit in one or two pages if drafted succinctly,'' the CIC official said. RTI activist Krishnaraj Rao said the draft rule is silent on complainants." There is no mention of this important tool wherein an applicant can directly file a complaint with the information commission in case they do not get the correct information. If the department does away with this then we will be at the mercy of the PIOs and appellate authorities,'' Rao said. The rules, Prabhu said, should in fact look at problems and limitations of the Act and amend them for the benefit of the citizens. "There is still no way we can challenge an order of the information commission and there is no prescribed time limit to comply with its order. These limitations should be looked into and amended accordingly,'' he said.