Information on illegal structures in their neighbourhood topped the list of queries asked by citizens, an analysis of RTI queries at an awareness camp showed. Citizens expressed concern at the three-day RTI camp organized by Mahiti Adhikar Manch and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) at Parel that concluded on Friday. "A majority of the 175 participants said that they wanted to file RTI queries related to unauthorized changes made in...
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Draft amendments may sound RTI death knell by Viju B
Proposed changes to the Right to Information (RTI) Act threaten to render it ineffective to a large extent. The amendments include restricting questions per RTI query to one and word count to 250 per query, and levying a 'hire' charge. If the Department of Personal and Training's proposed draft comes into effect it would be applicable to all central government agencies and respective state commissions can follow suit and adopt...
More »Protest outside, adjournment inside
The office of the Punjab Information Commission witnessed a paradox of sorts today. Outside, members of the RTI Activists’ Federation, Punjab, were staging a protest against the Commission for not imposing penalty and stretching cases for years, thereby making justice under the RTI Act a long haul. But inside, a case got adjourned because the counsel for one of the parties was leading the protest outside. After their charter of demands...
More »RTI usage is slowing down in Mumbai
On his visit to the city, activist-turned-central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi interacted with Right to Information activists. DNA caught up with him to speak about the landmark RTI Act, which recently completed five years. What did you gather from your meeting with the activists? I feel that not many people are getting involved with the Act. There is an increase in usage but the rate has slowed. As far as depth is...
More »Amendments proposed, RTI rules likely to be more people-friendly by Anindo Dey
The withdrawal on the limitation of number of words when asking for information, restructuring of fees, halting provisions to withdraw an appeal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, are some of the amendments in the RTI rules that have been adopted by the Working Group on Transparency, Accountability and Governance under the National Advisory Council (NAC). These amendments are likely to be placed before a full house of the...
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