Page 2 - Rti Act

More than 66% of 1.34 crore NRIs live in Gulf countries: RTI reply

Of the estimated 1.34 crore Non-Resident Indians, more than 66 per cent are in the Gulf countries of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, the External Affairs Ministry has said in an RTI reply. The data is as of March 2022, said the ministry. AnI is an Indian citizen who is ordinarily residing outside India and holds an Indian passport. Nagpur-based banker Abhay Kolarkar said he had sought the data pertaining toIs and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) under Right to Information (RTI) a few months ago and the ministry's reply reached him in the last week of June. In its RTI reply, the ministry said that an estimated 1.34 croreIs live in 210 countries. Of these, 88.8 lakh overseas Indians live in six Gulf nations. While 34.1 lakhIs live in the United Arab Emirates, 25.9 lakh live in Saudi Arabia, followed by 10.2 lakh in Kuwait, 7.4 lakh in Qatar, 7.7 in Oman and 3.2 lakh in Bahrain. Kolarkar said he wanted the data to get a sense of the number ofIs who might be affect

CIC verdict can't be referred to bring political parties under RTI: Centre

An order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) cannot be used to seek a writ from the Supreme Court to bring recognised political parties under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Centre told the apex court on Tuesday. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the submission while appearing for the central government before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which is hearing two PILs seeking a direction to bring political parties under the transparency law. The CIC order cannot be used to seek a writ of mandamus (a judicial order to the government to fulfil official duties) to bring political parties under the RTI, the law officer told the bench, which also comprised Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), represented by lawyer P V Dinesh, said the party has no objection to RTI with regard to ensuring financial transparency. But there cannot be requests (under RTI) on why a candidate has been selecte

Kerala govt launches online portal for RTI application after SC's directive

People in Kerala no longer need to stand in queues to submit applications or send requests by post for information under the transparency law and can have access to it from the comforts of their homes thanks to the state government launching an online RTI portal following a Supreme Court directive. Prior to the launch of the portal on June 19, an application under the transparency law -- the Right to Information Act -- had to be either submitted in person before the concerned department or authority along with the requisite fees or sent by post. This was also necessitated by the fact that an online RTI portal implemented by the state government with the help of the IT Mission earlier was non-functional due to technical difficulties. Therefore, the new portal, developed with the help of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) is expected to make the access to information easier and more transparent. "The payment for the fees on the RTI online portal will be through e-Treasury Portal,"

Over 67,000 trains cancelled in South East Central Zone in 3 years: RTI

Indian Railways cancelled 32,757 trains in 2020, suspended the operations of 32,151 trains in 2021, called off 2,474 trains in 2022, and postponed 208 trains in April 2023

274,000 posts vacant in Railways, over 170,000 in safety category: RTI

More than 2.74 lakh posts in the Railways are lying vacant as of this month, with over 1.7 lakh of them in the safety category alone, the national transporter has said in response to an RTI query. In its reply to the questions filed by Chandra Shekhar Gaur, a Madhya Pradesh-based Right to Information (RTI) Act activist, the Railways said 2,74,580 posts are vacant in Group C category, including Level 1 or entry-level staff. This includes 1,77,924 vacancies in the safety category, it said. "The total number of non-gazetted posts vacant i.e. Group-C (including Level-1) in Indian Railways, as available in this office, as on 01.06.2023 (provisional) is: 2,74,580," the ministry said. On the safety category, it said there are more than 9.82 lakh posts of which over 8.04 lakh are filled. "Total number of sanctioned, on roll and vacant posts in safety category of Group-C (including Level-1) in Indian Railways, as available in this office, as on 01.06.2023 (provisional) are: 9,82,037, 8,04

UP info body warns 'habitual litigant' to not file large number of RTIs

The Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission has warned a "habitual litigant" against filing a large number of RTI applications and appeals, saying the Right to Information Act should not be used as "a tool to harass public authorities". The commission also observed that filing RTI applications in bulk leads to a "clogging of the system" and causes "unnecessary impediment in discharging the regular duties of the PIOs (Public Information Officers)". State Information Commissioner Ajaya Kumar Uprety passed the order while hearing the appeal of Anil Kumar Dubey against Public Information Officer at the office of District Panchayati Raj Officer, Vikas Bhavan, Varanasi, during a camp on May 9. The order was uploaded a few days back on the website of the Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission (UPSIC). During the hearing, it was found the applicant submitted 35 RTI applications with the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department. "The commission is of the view that the applica

Microsoft's media literacy program aims to tackle online misinformation

People are hungry for accurate and reliable information online and may just need help to find it, according to a new media literacy project launched by Microsoft. The tech company worked with the Trust Project, a nonprofit consortium of news organisations, to create advertisements directing internet users to a list of eight trust indicators that can be used to assess a website's credibility. The indicators include things like the clear labeling of opinion pieces, a code of practices and the attribution of sources. Most people who saw the list expressed greater confidence in their own ability to find reliable news while ferreting out misinformation a promising finding that suggests media literacy can be a cheap and scalable solution to the daunting problem of online misinformation. This was a bit of an experiment for us, said Ginny Badanes, senior director of Microsoft's Democracy Forward Initiative, a unit at the company that focuses on efforts to strengthen democracy and online

SDM, revenue officials booked for giving incorrect information under RTI

An FIR has been registered against a sub divisional magistrate and two other officials for allegedly providing incorrect information under the Right To Information Act, police said on Monday. Acting on a complaint by Parshuram Rai of Kothia village of Narhi police station area, a case was registered against SDM Sadanand Saroj, revenue officials Ranjit Singh and Tara Rakesh Anand posted in Rasda here on Sunday. Deputy Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Pandey said the case was registered on the orders of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court. Rai, in his complaint, alleged that he had sought information on six points from the sub divisional magistrate (SDM), Sadar on March 9, 2022. The SDM, however, gave misleading information to the complainant in violation of the Right To Information (RTI) Act, leading to fraud and forgery.

Rs 200 cr spent on salaries, facilities for RS MPs in last 2 years: RTI

Around Rs 200 crore was spent on salaries, allowances and facilities for Rajya Sabha MPs over the last two years with around Rs 63 crore spent on their travel alone, according to an RTI reply. In 2021-22, in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the exchequer spent over Rs 97 crore on Rajya Sabha members. The amount includes Rs 28.5 crore on domestic travel and Rs 1.28 crore on international travel. Salaries amounted to Rs 57.6 crore, medical bills of Rs 17 lakh and office expenses of Rs 7.5 crore. It also spent Rs 1.2 crore on information technology assistance to the MPs. In the 2021-23, Rs 100 crore was spent in total which included Rs 33 crore in domestic and foreign travel expenses, according to the reply by Rajya Sabha Secretariat to a query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Madhya Pradesh-based Chander Shekhar Gaur. The Rajya Sabha Secretariat has said that during 2022-23, Rs 58.5 crore was spent on the salaries of members, while Rs 30.9 crore on domestic

Vande Bharat Express trains running at average speed of 83 kmph: RTI reply

India's fastest train, the Vande Bharat Express, has been running at an average speed of around 83 kmph over the last two years due to poor track conditions while having a permissible top speed of 130 kmph for commercial services, an RTI reply has revealed. During this period, a train on one route hit an average speed of 95 kmph. The train, which is built to run at a maximum speed of 180 kmph, has a permissible top speed of 130 kmph for commercial services, officials said. The RTI, filed by Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, said the average speed of the semi high-speed train was 84.48 kmph in 2021-22 and 81.38 kmph in 2022-23. The Vande Bharat Express is an electric multiple-unit train operated by the Indian Railways. It was designed by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. The officials asserted that the speed of such trains depend on the track conditions. While the Mumbai CSMT-Sainagar Shirdi Vande Bh

DOPT, PMO report sharp decline in RTI backlog by over 70%, says CHRI

The ministries of statistics and programme implementation and personnel as well as the Prime Minister's Office are the top offices to have reduced their backlog of pending RTI applications by over 70 per cent, according to an analysis of the Central Information Commission annual report for 2021-22 by a voluntary group. The report from Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) accessed by PTI shows that among other government departments, the Department of Space reported a 55.51 per cent decline in its RTI application backlog in 2021-22 vis-a-vis 2020-21. The Ministry of Mines reported a 48.79 per cent decline in RTI application, the textiles ministry reported a 42.29 dip while the Commerce and Industry and the Road Transport and Highways ministries saw a dip of 32.99 per cent and 30.88 per cent, respectively. In the Union Territories, Andaman and Nicobar reported an almost 87 per cent decline in backlog RTI applications, while Delhi reported a reduction of 10.25 per cent, the repo

Deal with RTI applications as per prescribed timelines: Delhi HC to NGT

The Delhi High Court has asked the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to deal with RTI applications strictly in accordance with the timelines prescribed under the law. Justice Prathiba M Singh, while dealing with a matter related to NGT's failure to respond to an RTI plea, said being a national tribunal, its RTI cell ought to function properly. In view of the fact that the NGT is a national tribunal, the RTI cell of the NGT ought to function properly. Needless to add, the RTI applications received by the NGT in future shall be dealt with strictly in accordance with the timelines and rules prescribed under the RTI Act and RTI Rules, said the court in a recent order. The counsel for the NGT told the court that now the tribunal has created a proper RTI Cell and the First Appellate Authority. The NGT counsel said the tribunal did not have full time staff in 2013. The RTI applicant had filed an application in March 2014 and sought disclosure of certain information on appointment to a certai

Plea before Delhi HC to declare PM Relief Fund as 'public authority'

A plea has been filed before the Delhi High Court asserting that the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund must be deemed to be a public authority under the Right to Information Act. The application was filed by retired Navy officer Commodore Lokesh K Batra in a pending appeal dealing with the issue of classification of the fund as public authority under the law. The applicant said the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF), headed by a constitutional authority (Prime Minister of India) and administered by joint secretary to the prime minister, has all the trappings of being a public authority, and thus prayed for disclosure of certain information pertaining to the fund. The applicant had filed an RTI application before the Prime Minister's Office in April 2020 seeking information concerning the creation of the fund, entrusting the fund to the prime minister and the selection of chartered accountant for conducting of the audit, among others, the application said. The Central

Collegium discussions can't be put in public domain through RTI, says SC

'Whatever was discussed in the collegium was not required to be put out in the public domain, that too under the RTI Act'

Right to privacy also encompasses public servants, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

The conflict between the RTI Act and the draft personal data protection bill needs to be resolved, says the communications minister

Effective use of RTI will help building a corruption free country: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said the effective use of the Right to Information Act (RTI) will help in building a developed and corruption free country as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Inaugurating the 15th Annual Convention of Central Information Commission (CIC), the Speaker said the main aim of the RTI Act is empowering citizens, bringing transparency, getting system rid of corruption and taking democracy to the people of the country in the true sense. Addressing the two-day convention titled "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: Citizen centric Governance through RTI", Minister of state for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh said the non-domiciles and non-State subjects of Jammu and Kashmir will also now be entitled to file RTI related on issues related to Union Territory (UT) or agencies. Lauding the Commission for hearing petitions from newly carved out Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh during the peak of Covid lockdown, th

Expenditure on India's information commissions has fallen 91% in six years

Since FY17, the budget allocation for information commissions has shrunk by 82.7% from Rs 31.9 crore

Over 300,000 RTI cases pending in India, highest in Maharashtra: Report

The maximum number of RTIs were received by the Central government at 11 million, followed by Maharashtra at 8.6 million and Tamil Nadu at 3.6 million

Story in numbers: Mystery of unknown sources of political party funding

Known sources have been defined as donations above Rs 20,000, whose donor details are available through contribution reports as submitted by national parties to the ECI

Appeal in Delhi HC challenging order denying details of 2018 SC collegium

The Delhi High Court Friday reserved its order on an appeal challenging the decision of its single judge dismissing the plea seeking information on the agenda of a Supreme Court collegium meeting