Though so far the progress made in implementation of the RTI Act has

been satisfactory but the feeling of alienation among people is a problem therefore
common people do not participate in the governance process.

The mindset of the appointed PIOs is not pro -RTI and therefore there is delay in the execution of RTI
applications. Hence there emerges a strong need of not only capacity building of these officials but
also conducting workshops for behavioural change among the officers. common man is the key
holder in democracy and officials must fully respect them.

Although all the PIOs are both consumers as well as policy implementers. But at the same time
their approach on policy implementation is indifferent which should not be the case since they are
also consumers as well and therefore should show a deeper understanding of problems among the
masses. The role of media can be crucial in popularising this law at the grassroots level.

There is a need for a change in the mindset of service providers and that they should realise that
their accountability and responsibility does not only restrict to their senior management but also it
runs deep down and its effect should cascade and reach the common man. The maintenance of
public records of all the flagship schemes is mandatory so that no need arises for filing of the RTI and
that all information is available on line.

Adequate number of PIOs: The number of PIOs are inadequate vis a vis the RTI application received
by any department. It is therefore proposed that the number of PIOs be increased. In addition it
would also be prudent to nominate officers specifically to be PIO. It should not be an additional
charge for the incumbent.

Computerisation/digitisation of all the government official records can be helpful in reducing high
number of RTI applications and this way governance system can be made more transparent. It and
long-term process. digitalisation of t records but until then there is a need for cataloguing, proper
labelling and record keeping of the government records. He said that the problem in doing so is that,
there is no budgetary provision of record keeping and that it can be done by budget estimation and
allocation in the annual plans, which is done every year.

information sought by an RTI applicant may not be relevant at all to the seeker and their sole
intention may be to create problems for PIOs and in some cases may misuse the information.
PIOs do not care for the imposed fines and recover them from any Sarpanch and Gram Sachiv. The
PIOs may also not help the applicants in the filing process, which is mandatory for them.

He said that

it is false to state that PIOs have less powers and do not have access to records within the
department. The misuse of BPL cards is discouraged by making rules which say that the demanded
information should be related to the BPL applicant himself. Pages can be given free of cost to the RTI
applicant only up to the limit of Rs50-Rs100 and beyond this, pages become chargeable as per the
law. He also responded to the query on some contradiction in RTI and Criminal Procedure Code by
saying that if there is any clash between two laws then RTI Act will supersede the other and agreed
that display of information on notice boards of government departments is unavailable.

it is unfair on part of the PIOs to think that the applicant may misuse the demanded information.
According to him, if some one is asking for some information, it means that he or she is a part of the
process. As an example he stated that if a person of Meghalaya is asking information about
something happening in Rajasthan, it does not mean that the demanded information is not related
to the applicant and that it is illogical for him/her to demand such information.

Low public awareness

The Act opens a communication lines between the government and public, which has
positive implications for the democracy. However, it may be mentioned that the awareness among
the masses about the Act is low (15%). It is observed from the available researches in public domain
that awareness level is even lower among the disadvantaged communities such as women (12%)
rural population (as low as 5% in some states in the country), OBC/SC/ST category etc. Therefore
there is need for efforts to generate awareness about the law among masses

In view, as mentioned under Section 26 of the Act, it is proposed to develop and organize
educational programmes to advance the understanding of the public, especially disadvantaged
communities, regarding how to exercise the rights contemplated under the Act. The following
sources could be utilised:

 Mass media channels like television channels, newspapers etc;

 Word of mouth by involving the key personnel’s as the ambassadors for awareness
creation about the Act in the villages/grass-root level;
 Organising seminars and discussions at district and below level.

Filing applications under RTI by information seekers

 Non-availability of User Guides for RTI implementation for information seekers: Though the Section
26 of the RTI Act states that the appropriate Government will publish and distribute user guides
(within eighteen months of enactment of the Act) for information seekers. However, it has been
observed as per the study conducted by Pricewater House Coopers 2009 that many of the nodal
departments have not published these guides till date. The user guidelines though have been
published by the Federal Government ( Department of Personnel and Training) for Information
Seekers in 2007 but not widely disseminated. Lack of user guides results in substantial efforts on the
part of the information seeker to gather knowledge about the process for submitting a RTI request.
And also ending in asking information that is to complex and not manageable for reply by the PIOs.
This results in rejection of much RTI applications. It is proposed to develop Standard forms for RTI
application using Section 26(3)(c) of the RTI Act. There are significant advantages of using a standard
form for a RTI application. The standard form would help in getting basic information such as
address/ contact numbers, form in which information is requested etc., that inter-alia will help the
PIOs in providing the requisite information and contacting the applicant for communication required
under section 7(3) etc. Further, if basic information is available (and catalogued properly by the
PIO/PA), it is helpful for the Public Authority to identify the nature of frequent information requests
so that it can be provided as a suo-moto disclosure as per Section 4(2) of the Act.

Failure to provide information within 30 days

The RTI Act provides for replying and sending the information to the information seekers within 30
days of the receipt of the application. However the statistics above shows that the rate of failure of
the Public Authority in providing the information within 30 days (or 48 hours or 35 days or 40 days as
may be the case) is high. Most of the PIOs interviewed for the study by Pricewater House Cooper
said they are challenged to provide the information within the stipulated time due to inadequate
record management procedures in the Public Organisation. It is a known fact that the record keeping
process within the Government is a big challenge. This situation is further aggravated due to non-
availability of trained PIOs and the enabling infrastructure (computers, scanners, internet
connectivity, photocopiers etc.). Public Authorities need to meet the requirements of the RTI Act to
review their current record keeping procedures and other constraints and plan out the resources.

Training of PIOs:

An in-depth understanding of the RTI Act is a basic requirement of a PIO to discharge duties
effectively. However as per the findings of the survey conducted under this study, only 55% of
surveyed PIOs had received RTI training. During discussions with the PIOs and the ATIs, it was
highlighted that the frequent transfers/ changes in the PIOs adds to the challenge. This places
additional work-load on the training institutes entrusted with providing RTI training. In order to
attain the adequate trained PIOs among public authorities it is recommended that all the middle
management level public officers be trained in RTI Act and its rules and regulations. A central data
base of the trained officers in RTI would help in monitoring.