How to file an RTI appeal

 

 

Even after the powerful legislation of Right to Information, it is not easy for a common man to get the information he seeks as the entire bureaucratic set up is doggedly trying to hold on to its centuries-old veil of secrecy. In such a scenario, half-baked RTI applications or those which ask abstract or indirect questions will only gladden a bureaucrat. He will give a terse reply denying you vital information which could have been instrumental in your fight against injustice. “Drafting an RTI application is some sort of art,” says Manish Sisodia, a veteran RTI activist and founding member of the NGO Kabir which also runs a free helpline number to help people get information. He offers the following tips for drafting an RTI application.

1. People should not complain. Rather they should try to seek specific information.
2. Application should be clear enough so that person concerned can get the crux easily.
3. Questions should not be lengthy but rather brief.
4. The nuances of the language of application become all the more important when one is dealing with a corrupt officer. Wrong use of one or two words can give him a clear chance to conceal the information.
Sisodia charts out an elaborate process of filing an effective RTI application.

What you can get under RTI Act-2005

Information can be obtained from any department of the Central or state government, from Panchayati Raj institutions, and from any other organisation or institution (including NGOs) that is established, constituted, owned, controlled or substantially financed, directly or indirectly, by the state or Central government.
You can demand a copy of any government document.
You can inspect any government work.
One can take sample of the material of any government work.

What can be done if Public Information Officer does not reply to the application?

In such a case, applicant can file a complaint against the concerned PIO with the information commission. If a PIO, without any reasonable cause, denies the request for information, or furnishes incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, or asks for high fees for furnishing the information, the applicant can file a direct complaint to the Central or the State Information Commission. Any information that cannot be denied to Parliament or a Legislative Assembly cannot be denied to a common citizen. An applicant is only needed to disclose his contact address and name on the application and nothing else so far as personal details are concerned.

Amount of fee charged

A reasonable application fee (Rs 10/- as prescribed by the Central government, whereas in other states the fee amount may vary). Many government departments ask for a Rs 10 postal order.

Here is a practical format of an ideal RTI application.

Nannu is a daily wage earner. He lives in Welcome Mazdoor Colony, another slum habitation in East Delhi. He lost his ration card and applied for a duplicate one in January this year. He made several rounds of the local Food & Civil Supplies office for the next three months. But the clerks and officials would not even look at him, leave alone do his job or bother to tell him the status of his application. Ultimately, he filed an application under the Right to Information Act asking for the daily progress made on his application, names of the officials who were supposed to act on his application and what action would be taken against these officials.

How Nannu framed the questions?

1. I filed an application for a duplicate ration card on 27th January 2004. Please tell me the daily progress made on my application so far. That is, when did my application reach which officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what did he/she do during that period?
2. As per the rules, my card should have been made in 10 days. However, it is more than three months now. Please give the names and designations of the officials who were supposed to take action on my application and who have not done so?
3. What action would be taken against these officials for not doing their work and for causing harassment to the public? By when would that action be taken?

4. By when would I get my card now?

And the magic happened. Within a week of filing the application under Right to Information Act, he was visited by an inspector from the Food Department, who informed him that the card had been made and he could collect it from the office.

(In the case of any type of doubt one can call the RTI Helpline of Kabir-+91-9718100180 )