Power of RTI (Right to Information) Act in India

The Right to Information Act was brought into action in India in year 2005. Since then, it has proved to be very beneficial for people in India. With this law getting enabled, citizens of India can request information from "public authority" (generally a Government body) which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.

Under the Act, all authorities covered must appoint their Public Information Officer (PIO). Any person may submit a request to the PIO for information in writing. It is the PIO's obligation to provide information to citizens of India who request information under the Act. If the request pertains to another public authority (in whole or part) it is the PIO's responsibility to transfer/forward the concerned portions of the request to a PIO of the other within 5 days. In addition, every public authority is required to designate Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) to receive RTI requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of their public authority. The citizen making the request is not obliged to disclose any information except his name and contact particulars. To know more about the law, you can visit: http://righttoinformation.gov.in/

So, in effect, one can ask for information, in case of irregularities found at a Government office. Many Indian citizens have to face the brunt of corrupt Government officials even today and I feel that this law is very helpful in such situations. I have read about many cases in past few years, wherein Indian citizens got the information quickly from Government officials and made them to work for their duties.

I would like to cite a recent experience of one of my friends in Kolkata. He applied for passport last year, along with filling all information appropriately in the Passport application. At the time of police verification in Kolkata, Policemen asked him for Rs. 5000 as bribery, which he rejected. As a result, Police submitted wrong report in the Passport Office. After this, my friend went to Passport Office many times, but every times he was treated in an appropriate manner. He could see the corrupt face of country at that time. One day, his fater suggested him to go for use of RTI (Right To Information). He then submitted an application (RTI) to Passport Office and asked the reason for not getting Passport. To his great surprise, one evening he got phone call from Passport Office. The person on phone talked to him very politely and called him to Passport Office next day. On reaching office, my friend was given proposal of withdrawing RTI application and getting Passport within 2 hours. He accepted the proposal and got his Passport on the same day.

So, this is the power of RTI. I hope coming years bring more such laws and more importantly, awareness among all of us about such laws and the power associated. This article of mine is a very small effort in that direction. I am sure, we all can make a difference.

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