RIGHT TO INFORMATION


Despite orders from the CIC for making safety analysis, site evaluation and environmental impact assessment reports of the controversial Kudunkulam Nuclear Plant Project public, Nuclear Power Corp is refusing to do so. A story of an RTI applicant’s fight for transparency The recent...

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Under Section 11 of the RTI Act, the PIO is required to get back to the person (third party) whose confidential records like I-T returns or passport details are being sought. Does that mean the PIO can take the ‘objection’ of this third party as an excuse to refuse information? Early...

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The court orders that in the backdrop of too much and vague information asked for by the citizen, providing copies of 3,419 pages in 30 days is an ‘impossible’ task for the Public Information Officer In 2010, when I asked for the contract agreement between Ideal Road Builders (IRB) and...

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Last year Maharashtra government had provided close to 42 lakh bogus ration cards, reveals a RTI. These things are taking mafia colours, as is evident in the case of a Mumbai-based RTI activist who was assaulted for seeking info on ration card frauds Last week, an untoward incident took...

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What’s objectionable is that the government not only adopted secrecy in amending the rules but also seemingly ‘misplaced’ the file containing suggestions from citizens, as revealed in an RTI reply In a shocking move, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has in the last...

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Shooting incidents in the USA have become a nightmarish reality thanks to the regularity of their occurrence. Has it anything to do with easy laws of acquisition of fire arms license for individuals? While the horrendous Wisconsin Gurudwara shooting has sent shock waves across the...

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Why couldn’t outgoing President Pratibha Patil follow the norms like other VVIPs and buy the gifts she received officially, instead of getting them loaned to her proposed museum? Gifts which VVIPs including President of India receive during their official foreign tours are the property...

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For the RTI Act to become more effective and used by young citizens, including it in the educational curriculum is being taken up seriously. While the government is in discussions with the NCERT about its implementation, Symbiosis has initiated a unique RTI programme for its media students

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The world’s first ever RTI rating analysis conducted to find out how strong are the provisions of RTI law in 90 countries which have implemented the RTI Act, has thrown up surprising results with lesser known countries having stronger laws Consider this: When, The Associated Press, in...

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B Tech student Abhishek Jain lost a plum IT job in Bangalore thanks to Rajasthan Technical University which lost his answer paper. He tenaciously pursued RTI but the university has made things tougher for students All over India, innumerable students are filing RTI (Right to Information)...

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Is it a crime for a Central Information Commissioner to call for an enquiry if he finds allegedly forged records submitted by a PIO? A Delhi HC order which has given a stay on a PIO’s petition will have far-reaching consequences for a citizen who has the right to get information within 30...

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JOSH, along with National Commission for Protection of Child’s Rights, invoked the RTI Act to inspect documents as well as infrastructural facilities in government and government-aided schools in Delhi We keep reading about government schools lacking infrastructure, staff facilities,...

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The railway ministry is helpless about the discomfort of railway passengers in reserved compartments who are outnumbered by passengers without tickets or with tickets meant for unreserved compartments   Last month, my friend’s daughter went on a trip to Corbett Park, which was...

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Some 200 students of IIT Roorkee won the ministry of science & technology’s Scholarship for Higher Education, part of the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research scheme, but have been receiving only a partial amount. They used the RTI to find out the status   With the...

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But will the government manage to curb gross wastage in weddings when its own ministers are seen flouting norms? Since the last several years the “Big fat Indian wedding” may have attained a glamorous tone but the clamour to stop lavishness bordering on vulgarity of wealth display has...

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The ‘Sunday Mail’ obtained ‘shocking’ information under the RTI on hygiene in eateries in Brisbane. Indian cities are not far behind; all you need to do is invoke the RTI Act, like it was done in Pune We generally believe that Indians have a bad sense of hygiene and that our municipal...

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Soon, anyone would be able to file an RTI application over the phone, with help and guidance from a call centre as well as through a website While the government is consistently blamed for diluting the RTI (Right to Information) Act in several ways besides making illogical amendments at...

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On 23rd May, Moneylife wrote on how a Kerala citizen was denied access to Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel Report (WGEEP). The Central Information Commission and the Delhi High Court ordered the ministry to make it public. It has now been uploaded on its site Just when one wondered...

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Moneylife Digital Team 23 May 2012
A RTI reply from the Navy Headquarters to Delhi-based activist Subhash Agrawal has revealed that more than Rs23 crore was spend on the event which took place on 20 December 2011   The President’s Fleet Review (PFR) 2011, held off the Mumbai coastline, cost the Navy whopping Rs23.24...

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Moneylife Digital Team 31 March 2012
Along with non-appointment of information commissioners, activists see the move as a stealthy act to undermine RTI. This is a New Year surprise that RTI activists are discovering only now The Maharashtra government has apparently amended the Right to Information (RTI) Act in January,...

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