Pune-based administrative academy YASHADA to run an RTI helpline; Centre extends a grant

THE Centre has sanctioned a grant of Rs 3.62 lakh for Pune-based Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA) for setting up an RTI helpline. The grant is mainly to buy computer systems, wireless and noise canceling headsets, broadband telephone line, software etc. YASHADA is the administrative training institute of the government of Maharashtra, and it meets the...

Are you a journalist or an NGO activist? You could be the government's next RTI Fellow

THE government has announced four fellowships for research in the filed of Right To Information (RTI), with each selected Fellow be given a total stipend of Rs 2 lakh for a three-month research. Just check out whether you can apply for the fellowship announced by the government’s personnel department — DoPT recently:

2 posts of Information Commissioners to be vacant soon; are you eligible?

THE government has advertised for the posts of two new information commissioners in Central Information Commission, as two incumbents are due to complete their tenure on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. Who can apply for the posts? Will two bureaucrats be finally chosen? In fact, any person of…

If RTI information is denied, give a detailed reason: Panel

A GOVERNMENT-appointed panel, comprising representatives from DoPT, home ministry and Central Information Commission, has said, in case information requested through RTI is denied, "detailed reasons for denial quoting the relevant sections of the RTI Act" should be...

Law interns to analyse RTI applications; study ministries’ suo motu disclosure

LAW students will now analyse RTI applications received by the government during the calendar year of 2014, as the department of personnel and training (DoPT) will manage an internship programme beginning next month. The selected interns, only from the law stream, will study the status of suo motu disclosure of the ministry or department, required under the RTI Act. Those in second year pursuing…

New government plans to induct more Information Commissioners; selection process here

CIC Rajiv Mathur

ARE you someone with wide knowledge and experience in any of these disciplines – law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass-media, administration or governance? Then, the new government’s decision to induct a few more Information Commissioners for Central Information Commission should help you. Here is how you can go about it. You need to send your particulars to…

RTI Cells: Govt to extend one-time grant to public authorities

WITH a large number of public authorities being ill-equipped to handle RTI queries, the Centre has revived an old proposal of financially aiding them so that they can buy computer, scanner, printer etc. towards setting up of an RTI Cell. According to the proposal, for which an office memorandum was issued on Monday, only Rs…

Govt to appoint more information commissioners; last date of application is March 25

THE government has proposed to appoint more number of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission which currently has chief information commissioner Sushma Singh and eight other information commissioners. According to a DoPT circular dated February 25, 2014, the government proposed to appoint more information commissioners, and…

Govt announces 4 RTI fellowships valued Rs 2 lakh each; journalists, NGO activists eligible to apply

ARE you a journalist or a civil society activist or an RTI trainer in the age bracket of 25 to 40 years? And if you are willing to do a three-month-long research on facets of Right to Information (RTI) and its successes or constraints, the government may consider you for a stipend of Rs 2 lakh for completing an RTI Fellowship. The number of such fellowships, as…

5 things to know about new MCX chairman and former IAS Satyananda Mishra

Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) battling with a Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis in one of its group companies NSEL, has roped in former IAS of Madhya Pradesh cadre and ex-RTI chief Satyananda Mishra as its chairman. Many in the corridors were surprised by the move as unlike former IAS and ex-MCX director Ashok Jha, Mishra is not a corporate type. He does not know how to play golf, keeps a photo of his Guru at his chamber and speaks English with a thick Oriya accent. Here are five things you may like to know about new MCX boss Satyananda Mishra:

Confidentiality Vs. Transparency Debate: Why govt wants CBI to be tight-lipped?

PRIME minister Manmohan Singh has indirectly asked the CBI to be tight-lipped, saying that confidentiality is in the interests of the integrity of an on-going investigation, and that is why the CBI has been placed outside the purview of the RTI Act. “What is almost as distressing is that sensitive investigations are increasingly becoming subjects of running media commentary, often on the basis of material that is not otherwise in the public domain…confidentiality is in the interests of the integrity of an ongoing investigation. This was precisely the…

Govt acknowledges global Indians’ woes to access RTI info, extends e-IPO payment mode to foreign missions

A moment in Indian Embassy in Paris

IN A major boost to the RTI movement, the government has extended the facility of e-IPO (Electronic Indian Postal Order) for payment of RTI fees to Indian citizens living abroad so as to help them getting information from 176 Indian missions and posts that come under the ministry of external affairs (MEA). An office memorandum (OM) dated October 7, 2013, also acknowledged the difficulties…

RTI chief Satyananda Mishra, his colleagues, and the shocker to Netas

CIC Mishra

FORMER IAS officer and Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra has always enjoyed the tag of an efficient and highly honest civil servant. Now, he has one more feather in his cap. Mishra along with former IPS officer…

Govt to appoint Information Commissioners; appointments to be conditional

THE government has decided to appoint more Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission, the agency which is the final word on any RTI dispute. The government has decided to go ahead with the appointment process even though there is an on-going ligation in the apex court. A DoPT advertisement dated May 31, 2013 said that “these appointments would be subject to the outcome of…

Have a good RTI story to tell? Govt to pay you for your writing skill

ARE you ready to write a 5,000 word piece on a Right to Information (RTI) best practice? You may end up receiving a cool Rs 25,000. In what could be a part of the government’s new publicity drive in this election year, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) has proposed to publish a compendium of best practices on RTI Act, being practised by…

File RTI online, pay by credit card; facility to be extended to all ministries by May

WANT to know what DoPT secretary PK Misra has written on a particular file? You can now file an RTI application online, and make the payment using your debit or credit card. The government has quietly launched a web portal, rtionline.gov.in which can be used to get information solely about…

DoPT's “360 degree” RTI Study to consider information providers' views too

THE DOPT, or the department of personnel and training, will soon commission what it calls a 360 degree study of the implementation of the RTI Act, 2005. Though problems of information seekers are often highlighted, this will probably be the first time…

Excerpts of SC judgement on information commission; retired babus to lose out

OVER 100 retired bureaucrats across the country will cease to get post-retirement employment after Supreme Court in its recent verdict made it mandatory for Central and State Information Commissions to have at least one judicial member while hearing appeals of information seekers under RTI Act, 2005. A bench comprising justice AK Patnaik and justice S Kumar asked the government to get the RTI Act amended quickly to clear any ambiguity. But bigger question is: will this verdict be later extended to other quasi-judicial bodies like…

Indian officers in Honolulu for a summit? You will now spot it on the net

THE government has decided to disclose details of foreign and domestic official tours undertaken by ministers and officials of the rank of joint secretary and above on a suo motu basis. The information to be disclosed include:

Ex-coal secretary PC Parakh fought to get his official letters out through RTI

PC Parakh as coal secretary (April, 2005 photo)

IN 2009, former coal secretary PC Parakh was fighting a battle at Central Information Commission to access his own communications as coal secretary with then cabinet secretary BK Chaturvedi for the period of 2004-05. He was initially denied those files when he had filed an RTI to the cabinet secretariat. Many believe Parakh’s letters to then cabinet secretary could form the basis of CAG’s key arguments in yet-to-be published report on doling out coal blocks without auction. Last Saturday, the intensity of the PMO’s hard-hitting letter to anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare got diluted as Parakh chose to appear for TV interviews on what’s now known as Coalgate. But who this PC Parakh? In late 1960s, he was a mining geologist working for...