No data is centrally maintained either by Government or Central Information Commission (CIC) in respect of cases wherein the information under RTI Act has not been provided to the applicants.

 

CIC adjudicates the second appeals and complaints received in the Commission. The Right to Information Act, 2005 provides for imposition of penalty by CIC against the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), in pursuance of section 20 of the RTI Act. As per the information furnished by CIC, the amount of penalty imposed on such CPIOs for the last three years is as under:

 

 

 

Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen’s request for information 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 ongoing process. There have been constant efforts on part of the Government to 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 inter-alia include the following:

 

 

i.          RTI Online Portal (https://rtionline.gov.in) was launched in August, 2013 by D/o Personnel and Training. As on 17.03.2017, 1840 Central Public Authorities have been aligned to it making it convenient for citizens to file RTI requests and First Appeals through on-line.

ii.         The Government has conducted training and capacity building programs for Public Information Officers and First Appellate Authorities through State Government Training Institutes for effective implementation of the RTI Act.

iii.        Ministries/Departments and other Public Authorities are proactively working towards suo-motu disclosure and more information is put on their websites so as to reduce the need for filing RTI applications.

 

 

This was stated by the 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 in a written reply to a question by Shri Raju Shetty in the Lok Sabha today.

 

 

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KSD/NK/RS-3297

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