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);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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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
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Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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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);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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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')) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67efaf5571b44-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67efaf5571b44-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="cakeErr67efaf5571b44-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67efaf5571b44-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67efaf5571b44-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67efaf5571b44-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67efaf5571b44-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67efaf5571b44-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;
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Very few women use RTI Act&#039;,
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; 
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The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act,...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 26282,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Very few women use RTI Act&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  
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The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act,...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Very few women use RTI Act</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">The <a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html">Right to Information Act</a>, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled <em>People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13</em>, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).</div><p align="justify">Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.</p><p align="justify">Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. </p><p align="justify">There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.</p><p align="justify">Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.</p><p align="justify">The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  </p><p align="justify">The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.</p><p align="justify">A 2013 study entitled <em>The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)</em> prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.</p><p align="justify">In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study <em>People's RTI assessment 2011-13</em>, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. <br /></p><p align="justify">A study entitled <em>Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)</em> done by CHRI <em>(published in July 2014)</em> found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.</p><p align="justify"><strong><em>References:</em></strong></p><p align="justify">People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf">click here</a> to download)</p><p align="justify">Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc">click here</a> to download)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify">The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf">click here</a> to access)&nbsp; </p><p align="justify">Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please <a href="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf" title="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf">click here</a> to access) </p><p align="justify">Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html">click here </a>to access)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan</strong> </p>               </font>
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The &lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
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Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
&lt;/p&gt;
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Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; 
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The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act,...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Very few women use RTI Act&#039;,
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The &lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; 
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The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act,...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Very few women use RTI Act</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">The <a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html">Right to Information Act</a>, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled <em>People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13</em>, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).</div><p align="justify">Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.</p><p align="justify">Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. </p><p align="justify">There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.</p><p align="justify">Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.</p><p align="justify">The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  </p><p align="justify">The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.</p><p align="justify">A 2013 study entitled <em>The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)</em> prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.</p><p align="justify">In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study <em>People's RTI assessment 2011-13</em>, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. <br /></p><p align="justify">A study entitled <em>Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)</em> done by CHRI <em>(published in July 2014)</em> found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.</p><p align="justify"><strong><em>References:</em></strong></p><p align="justify">People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf">click here</a> to download)</p><p align="justify">Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc">click here</a> to download)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify">The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf">click here</a> to access)&nbsp; </p><p align="justify">Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please <a href="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf" title="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf">click here</a> to access) </p><p align="justify">Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html">click here </a>to access)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan</strong> </p>               </font>
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Very few women use RTI Act&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; 
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The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act,...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Very few women use RTI Act&#039;,
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The &lt;a href=&quot;../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A 2013 study entitled &lt;em&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)&lt;/em&gt; prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh&#039;s State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s RTI assessment 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) 
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  
&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; 
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The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act,...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html&quot;&gt;Right to Information Act&lt;/a&gt;, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled &lt;em&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13&lt;/em&gt;, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. 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Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;A study entitled &lt;em&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)&lt;/em&gt; done by CHRI &lt;em&gt;(published in July 2014)&lt;/em&gt; found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;People&#039;s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to download)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html&quot;&gt;click here &lt;/a&gt;to access)&amp;nbsp;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Very few women use RTI Act</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">The <a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html">Right to Information Act</a>, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled <em>People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13</em>, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).</div><p align="justify">Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.</p><p align="justify">Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. </p><p align="justify">There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.</p><p align="justify">Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.</p><p align="justify">The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  </p><p align="justify">The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.</p><p align="justify">A 2013 study entitled <em>The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)</em> prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.</p><p align="justify">In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study <em>People's RTI assessment 2011-13</em>, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. <br /></p><p align="justify">A study entitled <em>Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)</em> done by CHRI <em>(published in July 2014)</em> found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.</p><p align="justify"><strong><em>References:</em></strong></p><p align="justify">People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf">click here</a> to download)</p><p align="justify">Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc">click here</a> to download)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify">The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf">click here</a> to access)&nbsp; </p><p align="justify">Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please <a href="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf" title="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf">click here</a> to access) </p><p align="justify">Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html">click here </a>to access)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan</strong> </p>               </font>
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The <a href="../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html">Right to Information Act</a>, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled <em>People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13</em>, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
</div>
<p align="justify">
Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
</p>
<p align="justify">
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
</p>
<p align="justify">
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
</p>
<p align="justify">
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
</p>
<p align="justify">
A 2013 study entitled <em>The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)</em> prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
</p>
<p align="justify">
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study <em>People's RTI assessment 2011-13</em>, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. <br />
</p>
<p align="justify">
A study entitled <em>Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)</em> done by CHRI <em>(published in July 2014)</em> found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
</p>
<p align="justify">
<strong><em>References:</em></strong>
</p>
<p align="justify">
People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf">click here</a> to download)
</p>
<p align="justify">
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc">click here</a> to download)&nbsp;  
</p>
<p align="justify">
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf">click here</a> to access)&nbsp; 
</p>
<p align="justify">
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please <a href="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf">click here</a> to access) 
</p>
<p align="justify">
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please <a href="../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html">click here </a>to access)&nbsp;  
</p>
<p align="justify">
<strong>Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan</strong> 
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Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.</p><p align="justify">Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. </p><p align="justify">There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.</p><p align="justify">Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.</p><p align="justify">The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  </p><p align="justify">The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.</p><p align="justify">A 2013 study entitled <em>The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)</em> prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.</p><p align="justify">In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study <em>People's RTI assessment 2011-13</em>, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. <br /></p><p align="justify">A study entitled <em>Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)</em> done by CHRI <em>(published in July 2014)</em> found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.</p><p align="justify"><strong><em>References:</em></strong></p><p align="justify">People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf">click here</a> to download)</p><p align="justify">Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc">click here</a> to download)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify">The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf">click here</a> to access)&nbsp; </p><p align="justify">Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please <a href="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf" title="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf">click here</a> to access) </p><p align="justify">Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html">click here </a>to access)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan</strong> </p>',
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	'id' => (int) 26282,
	'title' => 'Very few women use RTI Act',
	'subheading' => '',
	'description' => '<div align="justify">
The <a href="../empowerment/right-to-information-58.html">Right to Information Act</a>, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled <em>People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13</em>, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).
</div>
<p align="justify">
Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. 
</p>
<p align="justify">
There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.
</p>
<p align="justify">
The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  
</p>
<p align="justify">
The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.
</p>
<p align="justify">
A 2013 study entitled <em>The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)</em> prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.
</p>
<p align="justify">
In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study <em>People's RTI assessment 2011-13</em>, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. <br />
</p>
<p align="justify">
A study entitled <em>Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)</em> done by CHRI <em>(published in July 2014)</em> found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.
</p>
<p align="justify">
<strong><em>References:</em></strong>
</p>
<p align="justify">
People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf">click here</a> to download)
</p>
<p align="justify">
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc">click here</a> to download)&nbsp;  
</p>
<p align="justify">
The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf">click here</a> to access)&nbsp; 
</p>
<p align="justify">
Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please <a href="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf">click here</a> to access) 
</p>
<p align="justify">
Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please <a href="../latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html">click here </a>to access)&nbsp;  
</p>
<p align="justify">
<strong>Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan</strong> 
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The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act,...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">The <a href="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html" title="https://im4change.in/empowerment/right-to-information-58.html">Right to Information Act</a>, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled <em>People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13</em>, released in October 2014 (please see the link below).</div><p align="justify">Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%.</p><p align="justify">Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. </p><p align="justify">There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report.</p><p align="justify">Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males.</p><p align="justify">The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women.  </p><p align="justify">The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information.</p><p align="justify">A 2013 study entitled <em>The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12)</em> prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12.</p><p align="justify">In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study <em>People's RTI assessment 2011-13</em>, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. <br /></p><p align="justify">A study entitled <em>Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0)</em> done by CHRI <em>(published in July 2014)</em> found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief.</p><p align="justify"><strong><em>References:</em></strong></p><p align="justify">People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20Report%20FINAL%20OCT%209.pdf">click here</a> to download)</p><p align="justify">Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20report%20by%20CHRI%202014.doc">click here</a> to download)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify">The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/RTI%20study.pdf">click here</a> to access)&nbsp; </p><p align="justify">Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please <a href="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf" title="http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf">click here</a> to access) </p><p align="justify">Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/make-rti-process-easy-a-tool-to-bring-transparency-activists-4674183.html">click here </a>to access)&nbsp;  </p><p align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan</strong> </p>'
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Very few women use RTI Act

The Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, has been considered as the most effective tool in the hands of citizens to fight for transparency and accountability. However, there exists huge gender gap in awareness and usage of RTI Act, finds the report entitled People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13, released in October 2014 (please see the link below). Prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) along with other grassroot CSOs, the report states that only 8% of RTI applicants in India are women. Gender assessment of 987 applications (i.e. the sample), randomly extracted from 3000 RTI applications that were collected from various public authorities (state plus Central) across India, indicates that only 4% of RTI applicants are women in Assam and Rajasthan. RTI usage among women in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Delhi is 10%. Bihar exhibited an abysmal 1% RTI usage among women, though with a truncated sample. Only one district and one state department of Bihar had responded, which led to receiving 70 RTI applications (as sample) for the period 2011-13. There are many reasons behind this demoralizing phenomenon, which includes poor literacy rate among Indian women (male literacy is 82.1% whereas female literacy is 65.5% in 2011), and low awareness about RTI legislation. Historically, it had been men who dealt with the government instead of women. There are serious risks and threats associated with filing RTI applications, which is possibly restricting women to file RTI applications, conjectures the report. Street Corner Interviews (SCIs), conducted in the capitals of four sample states (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar), and in Delhi, shows that only 67% of men and 54% of women had heard of the RTI Act. This happened despite the fact that in total 49% of respondents were female and the rest males. The least disparity between men and women, in terms of awareness of the RTI Act, was witnessed in Delhi where 67% men and 64% women interviewed, had heard of the RTI Act. Patna (Bihar) and Jaipur (Rajasthan) were the worst performers with almost a 20% difference between men and women. The present report has, therefore, recommended that special initiative should be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to determine the reasons why women are hesitant or unable to participate in the RTI process. Moreover, there should be a special taskforce to make women aware of the provisions of the RTI Act, its significance to their lives, and the procedures to be followed in order to access information. A 2013 study entitled The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12) prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) found that only Chhattisgarh's State Information Commission (SIC) published gender-wise breakup of the number of applicants during 2011-12. In order to assess and analyze the functioning of Information Commission (ICs) in the present study People's RTI assessment 2011-13, a total of 202 RTI applications were filed, which revealed that only 5% of all Central Information Commissioners (CICs) have been women. Less than 10% of all Information Commissioners in India are found to be women. A study entitled Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0) done by CHRI (published in July 2014) found that 26 of the 29 ICs are headed by men. It is only in Goa there exists a woman serving as Chief IC. In 2012, none of the ICs had a woman as the Chief. References: People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13 (published in October 2014), prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya -Centre for Equity Studies (CES) (please click here to download) Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India 2014 (Rapid Study 2.0), CHRI (published in July 2014) (please click here to download)  The Use of Right to Information Laws in India-A Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions (2011-12), CHRI, (published in 2013) (please click here to access)  Census 2011 provisional data on literacy (Please click here to access) Make RTI process easy, a tool to bring transparency: Activists, The Economic Times, 12 October, 2014 (please click here to access)  Image Courtesy: MKSS Rajasthan