fiogf49gjkf0d
Committee to look into feasibility of special stamps for RTI The Department of Posts said it has to constitute a fresh committee, with the approval of competent authority, to examine the feasibility of usage of RTI stamps as RTI fee and furnish a report on their recommendations.
A previous committee comprising representatives from postal department, DoPT and Central Information Commission had concluded that the amount charged under RTI is a fee not related to a postal article thus according to the present Indian Postal Act, 1898, postage stamps cannot be used for payment of RTI fee or costs.
RTI gets a memorial in Rajasthan
Ironic though it may sound, a unique memorial celebrating the Right to Information has come up in the Beawar town of Rajasthan — where the RTI movement had started 20 years ago — at a time when the Bhartiya Janata Party government in the State has opted to delete chapters on the evolution of RTI campaign and law from its school textbooks. Hundreds of people from all walks of life, who gathered at Chang Gate in Beawar on Thursday night to commemorate the historic 40-day dharna of 1996 for RTI , witnessed unveiling of the aesthetically-built memorial and demanded restoration of chapters dealing with common people’s contribution to RTI in the textbooks.
RTI plea: It took Govt of India 16 months to disclose report recommending new coastal regulation norms
Sixteen months after a Right to Information (RTI ) application was filed, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has disclosed a copy of the “Report of the Committee to Review the Issues relating to the Coastal Regulation Zone, 2011” to Kanchi Kohli, a well-known environmental expert. This disclosure came after an order of Information Commissioner Prof. M Sridhar Acharyulu on May 13, 2016 which stated that the ministry “cannot invent a new defense or exemption such as ‘the report is under submission’, ‘file is pending consideration’ and ‘unless approved it cannot be given’, etc, which are not available under RTI Act, 2005, such an illegal refusal will amount to denial of information which would invite penal proceedings u/s. 20 of RTI Act, 2005.
IGNOU to offer diploma course on Right to Information
In order to encourage people to understand societal relevance of the Right to Information Act and its nuances, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has decided to introduce certificate and diploma courses in the subject. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has extended its support to the university to work out the courses, which will form compulsory part of the training module for all Central Government employees.
the subject. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has extended its support to the university to work out the courses, which will form compulsory part of the training module for all Central Government employees.
