Online RTI facility extends to President Secretriat, MEA

New Delhi: Government has extended the facility of e-filing of RTI applications to President and Vice President’s Secretariat and Ministry of External Affairs.

Citizens will also be able to seek information online from ministries of Food Processing Industries, Health & Family Welfare, Home Affairs, Information & Broadcasting and Road Transport & Highways by exercising their Right to Information.

As a pilot project, the facility was restricted to DoPT only but late last month it was extended to Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Department of Consumer Affairs and Department of Food and Public Distribution.

The Centre’s flagship Right to Information Act, which was enacted in 2005, mandates timely response– within 30 days– to citizen requests for government information. One has to pay a fee of Rs 10 for seeking information.

At present, the text of an application that can be uploaded at the prescribed column (on the website while filing application) is limited to 500 words only. In case, an application contains more than 500 words, then it can be uploaded as an attachment.

The initiative for filing of RTI pleas through electronic mode is getting good response from information seekers.”