Lok Sabha Question No. 203 (STARRED), answered on 2016-11-30
Subject: Review of RTI Act
Ministry: PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
Asked by: PINAKI MISRA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS (DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING)

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 203

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.11.2016)

## REVIEW OF RTI ACT

## *203. SHRI PINAKI MISRA:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  reviewed  the  working/implementation  of  the  Right to Information (RTI) Act and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the deficiencies noticed in the review and the corrective action taken thereon;
- (c) the number of cases where RTI application was delayed for more than a year;
- (d) the  number  of  such  cases  which  have  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Central Information Commission (CIC) during the last three  years and the current year and the action taken by CIC in such cases; and
- (e) the number of cases where punishment, financial and otherwise awarded by CIC and the compliance thereof during the above period?

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office. (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) to (e):    A statement is laid on the table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  203  BY  SHRI  PINAKI  MISRA  FOR  30.11.2016  REGARDING 'REVIEW OF RTI ACT'

(a) & (b) Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen's request for  information.  RTI  Act,  2005  provides  for  setting  out  the  practical  regime  of  right  to information  for  citizens  to  secure  access  to  information  under  the  control  of  public authorities,  in  order  to  promote  transparency  and  accountability  in  the  working  of  every public authority.

Review  of  the  implementation  of  the  provisions  of  RTI  Act  is  an  on-going  process. During review from time to time, the issues and constraints that have been noted inter-alia include,  (i)  lack  of  awareness  on  Right  to  Information,  (ii)  need  for  capacity  building  of various  functionaries  administering  RTI  Act,  (iii)  inconvenience  experienced  by  citizens while filing information requests/appeals manually including payment of RTI fee, (iv) need for proactive disclosure by various Public Authorities (PAs) suo-motu as per Section 4 of the Act.

There  have  been  constant  efforts  on  part  of  the  Government  to  further  streamline  and strengthen the existing mechanisms for successful and effective implementation of the RTI Act. Government has taken several steps to strengthen the regime of RTI Act, which interalia include the following:

- i. RTI  web  portal www.rtionline.gov.in was  launched  w.e.f.  21 st August,  2013  to facilitate citizens for filing online RTI applications and first appeals with the facility of  online  payment  of  RTI  fees.  Due  to  concerted  efforts  by  the  Government,  the number of Public Authorities aligned to this portal has gone up from 96 in 2013-14 to 1203 as on 28.11.2016.
- ii. RTI online portal has provided the facility to citizens for filing applications and first appeals in Hindi language also.
- iii. A  number  of  workshops/training  programme  have  been  organised  for  the  Nodal Officers, Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs) and other officials of Public Authorities to effectively implement the RTI online web portal.
- iv. Training  programme  on  capacity  building  and  awareness  generation  have  been undertaken  for  Public  Information  Officers  (PIOs),  First  Appellate  Authorities (FAAs) through State Government Training Institutes so as to enable them to supply information/dispose of first appeal effectively.
- v. Directions have been issued to all Ministries/Departments and other Public Authorities  to  proactively  work  towards  suo-motu  disclosure  and  upload  more information on their websites so as to reduce the need for filing RTI applications.
- vi. The  Central  Information  Commission  (CIC),  at  present,  is  working  in  its  full strength i.e. with one Chief Information Commissioner  and  10  Information Commissioners (ICs) thereby improving its effectiveness.
- vii. To enable speedy disposal of Appeals/Complaints, the CIC has launched e-Court of the CIC allowing online filing of appeals/complaints, case disposals, status tracking, issue of notice of hearing using latest technology and efficient management of the Commission's records.
- viii. The Government has sanctioned Rs.42.54 crores for construction of a new building for the CIC.

(c) to (e) The data regarding number cases where RTI application was delayed for more than a year is not centrally maintained. Further, as informed by the CIC, no such cases have been brought to the notice of the Commission.

The  details  of  penalty  imposed  on  the  CPIOs  for  denying  the  information requested without any reasonable cause and the recovery made, are as under:

|   S.N. | Year    | Penalty imposed (Rs.)   | Total Penalty recovered including pending recoveries of previous years (Rs.)   |
|--------|---------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      1 | 2010-11 | 45,38,825               | 25,72,814                                                                      |
|      2 | 2011-12 | 38,20,500               | 24,68,701                                                                      |
|      3 | 2012-13 | 13,29,250               | 7,61,500                                                                       |
|      4 | 2013-14 | 19,25,000               | 10,19,628                                                                      |
|      5 | 2014-15 | 7,39,000                | 11,31,225                                                                      |

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