What is RTI or Right to Information?
RTI or Right to Information is an act passed by the Government of India in 2005. As per the RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from any “Public Authority”. The Public Authority then has to provide the requested information or a reply within 30 days of receiving the RTI application. The Act covers all of India except Jammu & Kashmir, where a modified J&K Right to Information Act is applicable.
A “Public Authority” is defined as a body or authority established or constituted by order or notification of appropriate government including bodies “owned, controlled or substantially financed” by government. Non-Government organizations “substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds” provided by the government are also covered in the Act.
It is important to note that the above explanation is a very basic summary of the RTI Act. The Act also has various other provisions such as penalties for Public Authorities in-case they fail to provide the information etc. The full Act can be found here.
RTILikho can help you file a RTI application without the hassles of going to a post office. To begin please visit https://rtilikho.com/apply
If you wish to file a RTI application manually you can visit chat community at https://rtilikho.org and get help from other activists and citizens. A basic guide to manually filing a RTI application is given here.
