Each resident of India obtained the right to information in the year 2005 under the Right to Information Act. As the vast majority of you may know, under this act, each resident has the privilege to request certain information from the government. An individual may apply for information with respect to a specific document or can even apply to physically inspect government records, in addition to other things.
There are two different ways of filing an RTI;
In the two cases, a specific format ought to be followed.
In this article you will get an answer to the following things:
Some Public Authorities have contrived their own format for the applications. However, there is no compulsion under the law to stick to such a format. Applications can't be rejected on the basis that they were not in the recommended format.
It totally depends upon you to identify what you must include in your application. The goal of writing a compelling RTI application is simple – to empower the public authority to provide you with the information you look for.
The Right to Information Act stretches out to the entire of India with the exception of the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. All residents including Indians living abroad have the option to look for information. This infers the individual looking for information must be an individual and not a partnership, society, or some other public authority. Neither people of Indian Origin nor outside nationals can profit from the advantages under this Act.
The application can be written in English, Hindi, or any official language of the state wherein the office lies. However, the RTI Act makes no provision to request answers in your preferred language. So once in a while, one gets troubled when the answer to the application is given in a language they can't understand. For example, you file an RTI application with the Municipal Corporation, Hoshiarpur in Hindi. The PIO answers to your application in Punjabi. What do you do?
The courts and commissions have set down in a few decisions that information ought to be given to the Applicant in the language he gets it. Thus, it is advisable to remember two things while picking the language of your application:
Always write your application in the language in which you wish to get an answer. If you need the PIO to answer you in Hindi, ensure you write your application in Hindi.
As a careful step, it is consistently advisable to make reference to in your application obviously the language in which you look for an answer.
There are some important things required to file an online RTI application. These are:
ADDRESSEE & ADDRESS:
You should address your application to the Public Information Officer of the division which is probably going to have the information you are looking for. The address of the PIO must contain the details of the division viz. name, address, and city in which it is found.
NAME & ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT
So once you are through with writing the PIO details, your next area should cover the "NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT". In this area, you should fill your name and the postal location of the place you wish to get information at. Ensure that all the information provided is precise as this would be the address at which PIO could be corresponding with you.
PARTICULARS OF INFORMATION REQUIRED
The following field of your application ought to be "Points of interest OF INFORMATION REQUIRED". This is maybe the most significant segment that would characterize the information you are looking for... In this area, you should separate all the information looked for in an orderly way in order to guarantee that the reader interprets precisely what you need from his specialization. For comfort, you may partition this segment into 5 heads, viz:
The Subject of information: In this area, you should specify:
BPL Status
The next part of your application must set out whether you lie above or below the poverty line. An individual is supposed to be living below the poverty line in the event that he spends not as much as Rs. 32 every day in towns and under Rs.47 in urban communities. Consequently, in this part, you ought to unmistakably state whether you belong to below the poverty line category. If your answer is YES, at that point you ought to present the confirmation on the side of your case that you belong to the below poverty line. No charge is required to be paid by people falling below the poverty line. However, if you don't belong to the below poverty line, you should attempt to pay appropriate costs for furnishing the required information.
Here is the sample RTI Application/RTI Application Format:
To
The Chief of Public Information Officer/ Public Information Officer
Division Officer
Address
Whether belong to the BPL category (if yes, please attach a copy of the BPL
Details of Application Fee/Addl. Fee:- (Application Fee – Rs.10/-; Addl. Fee – @Rs.2/- per page for A-4 size paper created or copied, by Cash, DD/BC/IPO to be drawn in favor of ‘Accounts Officer, Ministry of External Affairs, where the application is submitted Cash Receipt/ DD/Bankers Cheque / IPO No Date Name of the Issuing Bank/Authority Amount (Rs.)
Particulars of information required
*Note (Please attach the supporting documents)
DECLARATION: I state that the information looked for doesn't fall inside the limitation contained in Section 8 and 9 of the RTI Act and apparently, it relates to your office.
Here is the sample of RTI reply you get from the government:
