decided that from next month, all replies given under RTI by all ministries will be posted online so that any member of public can access them.
This basically means that anyone can now access online the replies given by each Ministry to all RTI applications it receives, rather than just the person filing the RTI.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued an Official Memorandum to all Ministries on Tuesday to this affect.
"An immediate action is requested so that the facility to upload the reply to RTI application and first appeal on the website of the respective ministry or department may be started w.e.f. 31st October, 2014," the DoPT has said.
It has been specified that some caution be exercised in the matter if the information being given under RTI relates to privacy of an individual. "It may be noted that RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating to personal information of an individual may not be disclosed, if they do not serve any public interest," the DoPT has said.
This is being done as an earlier instruction issued by the DoPT in UPA's tenure, on April 15, 2013, had said that public authorities have an obligation to proactively disclose RTI applications and appeals received by them and their responses on their websites.
"The Modi government is now implementing it. Under the RTI Act, there is a specific provision for suo-moto disclosure of information and we are moving towards the Digital India plan," a senior DoPT official told ET.
The DoPT has already added a new feature on its website on a pilot basis which gives an option to its officials to upload the reply to RTI application and the first appeal on its website. "This feature is now being extended to other Ministries/departments of Government of India," DOPT has now specified, asking all ministries to contact the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for this purpose.
The DoPT has already added a new feature on its website on a pilot basis which gives an option to its officials to upload the reply to RTI application and the first appeal on its website. "This feature is now being extended to other Ministries/departments of Government of India," DOPT has now specified, asking all ministries to contact the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for this purpose.
The Prime Minister's Office had recently led by example by disclosing on its website the details on the number of employees in the PMO as well as the PM's personal staff and had also assets of all BJP Ministers.
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