How to save INDIA from corruption by using

RTI Act?
In this article we have talked about the RTI (Right to Information) act. This act, has given the
people, the power to CHANGE the country. The RTI act has made the inner working of the Govt.
transparent! If YOU, the average citizen learns to use this act, YOU can change the country.

In this article, we have told you everything that you need to know about the RTI Act, how you can
use it, how it affects you etc! Even if you know nothing about “politics” or “laws” do not worry.
This article is written in a very simple and easy to understand way keeping the lay man in mind.

If you think that the RTI Act does not affect you, "YOU ARE WRONG!"

If you are a citizen of Indian, the RTI Act has given you a lot of power that you can and must use.

For example, next time you ask for a “phone line” or a “water connection”, if you use the RTI Act,
you can get your work done quickly. You will not have to make 15 trips to the Govt. offices and
bribe and beg the officials to get your work done. RTI has changed all that. Though this article we
will show you how to use RTI, to get your work done!

Are the roads outside your house terrible, RTI will help you solve the problem. Is there a problem
of un-hygiene in your area, RTI will help you solve your problem.

If you are young and cannot appreciate all the above points, then believe us that sooner or later you
will have to go and get some of your work done though Govt. offices. When you do, you will
appreciate the power RTI. But, by then it will be too late.

Why? Because there is talk about RTI being changed so that the power is taken away from the
people. In this article we have showed you how you can fight this and support RTI.

Basically, if you are an Indian, YOU MUST read this! Not only that, do tell as many people as you
can to also read this. Do this for your country!

Now, in the next section we shall try to understand what the RTI Act is all about...

Right To Information FAQ!

What is RTI?
RTI stands for "Right to Information". Right to Information is a fundamental right that every citizen
has! Basically, the RTI gives you all the information that you want about the Govt. and what they
are doing with your tax money!

You have the right to ask the Govt. why the roads outside your house are not fixed, why have you
not received your “rashan card” as yet, why is there so much garbage in your area that is not picked
up etc.
If RTI is a “fundamental” right, then why do we need an
“Act”?
Simply because if you go into a Govt. office and demand that they tell you why your work has not
been done, they will not entertain you or might even throw you out. If it’s a law, then it becomes
harder to do this. If they do not give you the information you want, they will have broken a law and
can be punished for it!

Who will give me information I am looking for?

One or more officers in every Government Department have been made "Public Information
Officers" (PIO). If you want some information, you need to file an application with the PIO. The
PIO’s are responsible for collecting information wanted by you and providing that information to
you.

Also, several officers have been appointed as Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs). Their
job is only to accept applications from the public and forward it to the right PIO.

Can the PIO refuse to give me information?

A PIO can refuse information on certain subjects. These include information received in confidence
from foreign governments, information prejudicial to security, strategic, scientific or economic
interests of the country, breach of privilege of legislatures, etc.

But, do not worry about this!

For an average citizen like you and me, the information we are looking for does not come under
these categories. So the PIO can not refuse to give us information.

Where do I submit the application for information?

You can do that with the PIO or with APIO of the Govt. department you are questioning.

Is there any fee? How do I deposit that?

Yes, there is an “application fee”. For Central Government Departments, it is Rs.10. However,
different states have different fees.

For getting information, you have to pay Rs.2 per page of information provided for Central
Government Departments. It is different for different states. Similarly, there is a fee for inspection
of documents. There is no fee for first hour of inspection, but after that, you have to pay Rs.5 for
every hour or inspection. This is according to Central Rules. For each state, you need to see
respective state rules.

You can deposit fee in cash or through a DD or bankers cheque or postal order. You can then
deposit your application either by post or by hand.
What should I do if the PIO does not accept my application?
You can send it by post. Once you send it along with the fee, your job is done.

You should also make a formal complaint to the respective “Information Commission”. The
Information Commissioner has the power to impose a penalty of Rs.25,000 on the concerned PIO
officer who refused to accept your application.

But it is most likely that the PIO will accept your application.

Is there an "application form" to be filled?

For Central Government Departments, there is no form. You should apply on a plain sheet of paper
like an ordinary application. However, many states and some ministries and departments have
prescribed formats. You should apply in these formats. Please read rules of your respective state.

How can I apply for information?

Draft your application on a normal sheet of paper and submit it by post or in person to the Public
Information Officer (PIO). [Remember to keep a copy of the application for your personal
reference.]

How can I send my application fee?

Every state has a different mode of payment for application fee. Generally, you can deposit your
application fee via:

• In person by paying cash [remember to take your receipt]

• Demand Draft
• Indian Postal Order
• Money orders (only in some states)
• Affixing Court fee Stamp (only in some states)
• Banker’s cheque

Some state governments have some "head of account". You are required to deposit fee in that
account. For that, you can either go to any branch of SBI and deposit cash in that account and attach
deposit receipt with your RTI application. Or you can also send a postal order or a DD drawn in
favor of that account along with your RTI application. Please see respective state rules.

What if the PIO is not available?

In case the PIO is not available you can submit your application with the Assistant PIO or any other
officer designated to accept the RTI applications.
Where can I find the concerned PIO?
A list of PIOs/APIOs for all Central and State departments/Ministries is available online at
www.rti.gov.in

What if I can not locate my PIO or APIO?

In case you have problems locating your PIO/APIO you can address your RTI application to the
“PIO C/o Head of Department” and send it to the concerned department with the requisite
application fee. The Head of Department will have to forward your application to the concerned
PIO.

Is there a time limit to receiving information?

Yes. If you file your application with the PIO, you must receive information within 30 days.

In case you have filed your application with Assistant PIO then information has to be made
available within 35 days.

Do I have to give reasons why I want a particular

information?
Absolutely not! You are not required to give any reasons or additional information other than your
contact details (i.e., Name, Address, and Phone No.)

Can the PIO refuse to accept my RTI application?

No. The PIO can not refuse to accept your application for information under "any circumstances".
Even if the information does not pertain to his/her department/jurisdiction, she/he has to accept it. If
the application does not pertain to that PIO, he would have to transfer it to the right PIO within 5
days.

How does this law help me in getting my work done?

Let us take the case of Ram. He was not being given his ration card. But when he applied under
RTI, he was given a card within a week. What did Ram ask? He asked the following questions:

• I filed an application for a duplicate ration card on 27th January 2004. Please tell me the
daily progress made on my application so far. i.e. when did my application reach which
officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what did he/she do during that period?
• According to the rules, my card should have been made in 10 days. However, it is more than
three months now. Please give the names and designations of the officials who were
supposed to take action on my application and who have not done so?
 • What action would be taken against these officials for not doing their work and for causing
harassment to the public? By when would that action be taken?
• By when would I get my card now?

In normal circumstances, such an application would be thrown in a dustbin. But this law says that
the PIO has to reply in 30 days. If they don’t do that, their salary could be deducted. The problem is
that it is not easy to answer these questions.

The first question is: Please provide the daily progress made on my application

There is no progress made. But the government officials cannot write in that they have not acted for
so many months. Else that would be “admission of guilt on paper”. Which in a legal term for saying
that they are going to be “booted”

The next question is: Please provide the names and designations of the officers who were supposed
to take action on my application and who had not done.

If the government provides names and designations of the officials, their responsibility gets fixed.
Any officer is most scared of fixing of responsibility against him in this manner.

So, the moment one files such an application, his/her pending work is done.

What should I do after getting information?

It depends on why you asked for that information and what type of information is it. Often a lot of
things start falling in place just by asking for information. For instance, you would get your passport
or a ration card just by asking for the status of your application. In many cases, roads got repaired as
soon as the "money spent" on repairs was asked. So, seeking information and questioning the
government is an important step, which in itself is complete in many cases.

But suppose you expose some corruption or wrongdoing using RTI. Then, you can complain to
vigilance agencies, CBI or even file an FIR.

But one thing is certain. Seeking information like this and exposing the corruption does improve the
future. The officials get a clear message that the people of that area have become alert and any
wrongdoings in future would not remain hidden as they were in the past. So, their risks of getting
caught increase.

Don't pay bribes - Get you Govt. related work

done!
Generally, when you go to a Govt. office to get some work done, the situation is quite pathetic. The
Govt. employees will either not listen to you or they will give you a vague response or they will
raise some “irrelevant” objection.

This is generally done because the employees are “fishing” for a bribe! They are hoping that you
will get frustrated and give them a bribe to “move things faster!” Do not give the bribe to them. Use
the RTI Act and get your work done. Here we will show you how you can do this!
Just as an example, let us assume that you applied for a new water connection about a year back,
but still nothing has happened about it. What you should do is, write an application according to the
rules of your state and send it to the PIO of the Govt. department you are dealing with.

The application you write can be on these lines:

I had applied for a new water connection about a year back, but have not received the same. Copy
of the receipt of the same is enclosed for your reference. Please provide the following information
with respect to the same:

• Please provide the daily progress report made on my application.

• Please give the names and designations of the officials with whom my application was lying
during this period. Please intimate the periods when it was lying with which officer and
what was the action taken by that official during that period.
• Please give the proof of receipt and dispatch of my application in the office of each of these
officials.
• According to your rules, in how many days should a new water connection be granted.
Please provide a copy of these rules.
• The above officials have not adhered to the time limit mentioned in these rules. Are these
officials guilty of violating these rules and hence guilty of misconduct under their conduct
rules. Please give a copy of their conduct rule, which they have violated by violating the
above mentioned rule.
• These officials have caused serious mental injury to me by making me run around all this
while. Are these officials guilty of causing mental harassment to the public?
• What action can be taken against these officials for violating all the above rules and the
conduct rules? By when this action would be taken?
• By when would I be granted my water connection?

Normally, it becomes difficult for the officials to reply to these questions. If they do reply to all the
above questions, this will lead to them taking action against the officers who have not been
performing their duties. The general experience is that the moment you file such an application, the
work is done.

How to get your neighborhood cleaned up?

Does your area remain very dirty? The municipal sweepers rarely show up?

Submit an application to the appropriate PIO on the following lines:

I live at (give your address). Please provide the following information with respect to the sanitary
conditions of the beat in which my house falls:

1. Please provide the list of all the sweepers and sanitation officials with their addresses and
contact nos. working in this beat.
2. Please provide copy of attendance register for this beat for the month of (mention the last
month).
3. Please provide copy of muster roll for this beat for the month of (mention the last month).
4. Please mention against each sweeper, his geographical and functional job responsibilities,
for instance, which streets is a particular sweeper supposed to be working everyday and
what is he supposed to be doing in those streets.
 5. I am told that after lunch the sweepers are supposed to go on fateek duty every day in which
all the sweepers intensively clean one area each day. Please give the fateek duty schedule
for the entire month for the above month.
6. Does the fateek schedule remain the same every month or does it change? If it is different
for each month, please give me the fateek duty schedule for the next three months.
7. Please give a list of all the sanitation officials in this beat who were absent anytime during
the last six months. Please mention durations of absence in each case.
8. In how many of these cases, applications for leave were received. Please give copies of
these leave applications.

After you receive the list of sweepers, you can inform the people in your area about the names of
the sweepers employed in respective streets. The people may like to keep a watch on whether the
sweeper is coming or not. Specific complaints could then be made to the authorities about which
sweeper was absent and when. If no action is taken, file a RTI once more and ask about why action
has not been taken and who is accountable. Action will be taken!

Do you have a garbage bin in your area which is not being cleaned regularly? File an application
and seek information on the following lines:

There is a garbage bin at (give address of the garbage bin). Please provide the following
information with respect to this garbage bin:

• Please give the address of the Depot from where the loader and truck for this garbage bin
are sent?
• Please give the vehicle nos of the truck and the loader assigned for picking up garbage from
this garbage bin.
• As per the vehicle beat register maintained at the Depot, please give the time when these
vehicles left the Depot and at what time did they return to the Depot on each day from
________ to _________ (mention the period for which you want this detail).
• On each of the days during the above period, please mention the addresses of the garbage
bins, which were serviced by these vehicles.
• Please give the numbers of trips made by this truck on each of these days.
• On each of these trips, please mention the weight of the garbage picked up by this truck, as
per the weighment receipts at landfill sites.
• This garbage bin has not been cleaned for the last _____ days. The area SI is supposed to
send balance report to the workshop SI everyday giving details of the garbage left
unattended. On the basis of this report, the workshop SI is supposed to get such garbage
picked up. Please give copies of balance reports sent by the area SI for each day during this
period.
• Does the balance report for each of these days mention that the garbage at this bin is not
being picked up? If no, why has the area SI not been mentioning the same?

Normally, it becomes difficult for the officials to reply to these questions because the records about
these things are probably not maintained. If they do reply to all the above questions, this will lead to
them taking action against the officers who have not been performing their duties. Generally, so that
no further inquires are made, the work is done immediately.
How to fight against corruption?
Generally, cases of corruption are either dropped on some “technicality” or the progress in these
cases is very slow due to some influence. Because of this, corrupt officials go free! You can put an
end to this. Use RTI!

You can seek details from the “vigilance wing” of any government department. Incase you don’t
know, the “vigilance wing” is supposed to keep an eye out and investigate into all malpractices,
frauds etc.

You can send an application to the PIO and ask for the following details:

1. Please give a list of all the officials against whom any complaint of corruption was received
from any quarter during the period ________ to _______.
2. Please give copies of all these complaints.
3. Out of the above, which of the cases have been dropped and why? I would like to inspect all
these files. Please intimate the date and time when I can come to inspect these files.
4. Please indicate the progress being made in the rest of the cases.

Get your Govt. grievances sloved!

If you have a grievance or problem against any Govt. detpartment, you can use the department’s
“Grievance Redressal Machinery” to voice your problem so that it may be solved.

Unfortunately, the officers in charge do little about the grievances that they receive. You can
change this. Now, you can keep a check on the working of the “grievance redressal machinery” of
any department.

Use RTI and ask for the following details:

Please give a list of all the grievances received by all the officers in your department during the
period ________ to _______. The list should contain the following details:

1. Name and address of the complainant

2. The circle/district etc to which it pertains
3. Brief description of the grievance
4. Date of receipt of grievance
5. Date of redressal of grievance
6. Nature of redressal
7. If not redressed, reasons for the same
8. As per law, in how many days such a grievance should be redressed
9. Name of the official responsible for the delay
10.Action proposed to be taken against this official for delay
11.Is grievance against an official? If yes, name of the person
12.What action has been taken against that employee?
13.If any enquiry carried out, results of the same
14.If no enquiry carried out, why?

Please give copies of all the complaints and enquiry reports made against the officials alleged to be
guilty.

Once investigation into these matters begin, the Govt. department will have to start correcting
itself.

Know what the Govt. is doing with your tax

money!
Right to Information Act allows any citizen to inspect any government work. You can inspect an
old project (which has already been completed) or a current ongoing project. If you inspect ongoing
work, you will be able to prevent corruption from taking place in that work.

Most of the corruption takes place in records! For example, only 100 metres of road would be made
but the officials would fill up 200 metres and would make payment for 200 metres.

Even if there is a inspection, the officials think that they will be able to bribe their way through it.
But if, you file an application under the Right to Information Act before the start of any work,
saying that, you want to inspect that work once it is completed, the officials would now know that
someone from the public is going to inspect their work!

Now, they will not enter wrong measurements in the records. They will also be careful in using
inferior material if you have asked for sample of material.

File an RTI application that asks for the following information:

I would like to inspect the following documents related to the works. These records should be made
available to me for inspection when I come for inspection of these works:
a. Measurement Book
b. Details of Estimates
c. Sketches

When you file such an application, you will be given a date, time and venue where you should go
for inspection. When you go for inspection, please keep the following in mind:

It would be good if you take a technically qualified person along with you. Get him to verify each
and every aspect. Make sure that they are using quality material. If you find corruption, report it and
file an RTI to check the status of your report.

The Govt. have given to us this great tool that makes us in control of everything that is done around
us. Use this tool. Do not let corruption prevail. But, what is more important, let us make sure that
the RTI Act remains. Wheter you use the act or not, we need your support so that others may use
the act and keep a watch over the Govt...

Save RTI! Act NOW!

Unfortunately, since the law exposes all the corruption taking place within the Govt. departments,
the officials in the Govt. departments are opposing this law. All the politicians that sit on the tax
payer’s money are feeling the crunch. They too are opposing he law.

There are now talks going on about the “diluting” the law. The law in it’s “diluted” form will be
useless. People will loose the power that they had to expose the truth about the Govt. organizations.

You must help save this law. Whether or not you use the law is another thing. Help save the RTI
Act so that other may make use of it and help improve our nation. There are many RTI activists
who everyday exposing Govt. frauds and forcing the Govt. to improve. Support them! Support RTI!

[I had posted this page in pdf format in order to make it easily downloaded. Download this post and
share it with all your friends. Make a Corruption free India.]

Jai Hind.