RIGHT TO INFORMATION


Over the past few years, Maharashtra witnessed brutal killing of Right to Information (RTI) activists from across the state. While studying and writing  a book on this, what my fellow researcher, writer Prasannakumar Keskar, and I found was the gross failure of the criminal justice system to...

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As per Section 6 (2) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, “An applicant making a request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him.’’   However, in...

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The dominance of bureaucrats in the information commission can lead you to conflict of interest situations as, when they become information commissioners, they hail from the same background and share the same mindset as that of the public authorities that come under the RTI Act and so would...

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While a large proportion of the RTI (Right to Information) applicants’ second appeals and complaints disposed  by information commissioners (ICs) are because of wrongful denial or delay in providing information by the public authorities, the trend of second appeals being returned to the...

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Downloading and using mobile apps is the way to go for various entertainments and everyday services that you seek, as your phone has become a one-stop virtual platform for your real-life activities. Adding to the ocean of help that’s accessible at the tip of your fingers, Moneylife Foundation...

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At an all-party meeting held on 4 December 2020 about the progress made regarding COVID-19 vaccine administration, prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi announced that healthcare workers, frontline workers and the elderly who are already suffering from co-morbidities will be vaccinated on a...

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IANS 16 December 2020
The Centre government has not sanctioned any funds whatsoever for the cleaning and development of Mumbai's sole flowing water body, the Mithi River, as per an RTI reply.   Mithi River had created a huge havoc during the great floods of July 26, 2005, when it submerged even the Mumbai...

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In a stern order that demands definitive action, the Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to file developments in the process for the appointment of three state information commissioners by 8 January 2021.    The order is a sequel to two public interest litigations...

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The Bombay High Court in its order, in the former journalist and activist Saket Gokhale's petition, has reprimanded the ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) for putting up in the public domain his RTI application copy which contains his address and contact details. This has come as a...

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Delhi-based Right to Information (RTI) activist RK Jain, who succumbed to COVID-19 on the 16th November, is going to be sorely missed by the entire RTI and legal fraternity, for he was an institution in himself. A die-hard RTI user, who filed RTI applications as well as first and second...

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Last week, Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, who was serving as information commissioner (IC) at the central information commission in Delhi since 2019, has been appointed as the chief information commissioner along with the appointment of three other ICs. However, three more posts of ICs in this...

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Former central information commissioner and Right to Information (RTI) activist Shailesh Gandhi fears that the RTI Act will lose its teeth as public information officers (PIOs), appellate authorities (AAs) and information commissioners (ICs) consistently deny personal information to...

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Moneylife Digital Team 05 November 2020
Voicing concern on a submission against the uploading of personal details of 4,474 applicants of Right to Information (RTI) by the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) on its website, the Bombay High Court (HC) on Thursday directed the I&B ministry to conduct an enquiry and submit...

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The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005, which has empowered citizens to demand information from public authorities, has been time and again diluted by the establishment in an attempt to neutralise the Act’s power to ensure transparency and accountability towards the public. Distressingly, it...

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The Madhya Pradesh state information commission (MPSIC) has been facing an unusual problem. Right to Information (RTI) applicants, who file second appeals with the state’s CIC (chief information commissioner) after being denied information by the relevant public information officers (PIOs),...

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The RTI Act 2005, which celebrates its 15th birth anniversary today, does not have much to sing and dance about, as the top-of-the-chart officers, that is information commissioners has let down this one of strongest transparency laws in the world, thanks to the sluggishness in the performance...

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Fifteen years back the Right to Information (RTI) Act became operational on 12 October 2005. It was the auspicious day of Vijayadashmi and appeared to herald a new revolution in Indian democracy. Citizens who had been advocating this law saw an opportunity of converting India’s defective...

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Early this week, Rahul Singh, the information commissioner (IC) of Madhya Pradesh, slapped a penalty of Rs25,000 each on five panchayat secretaries for deliberately not disseminating information sought by the RTI (Right to Information Act) applicant way back in 2017. He simultaneously ordered...

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In a twin victory for citizens campaigning vigorously through online RTI Katta, leading to their filing two public interest litigations (PIL) with the Bombay High Court to direct all public authorities in Maharashtra to adopt an appropriate online video conferencing platform for conducting...

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“While the implementation of the RTI Act is rightly credited to the relentless crusade by noted activists around the country, citizens now have a responsibility to put pressure on the government for suo motu disclosures by every public authority, in order to completely eliminate the need for...

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