Unusual Use of RTI Act:Interesting

Today I came across an interesting news in a Marathi newspaper.It was about an unusual RTI request made to Pune collector office by an applicant below poverty line.

Govt of Maharashtra has started citizen services delivery via single window through SETU scheme some 5 years back.These SETU center are located at each Tehsildar and collector offices across all districts of Maharashtra.Citizens can get the services and certificates like caste certificate,domicile certificate,income certificate etc etc through these centers.

This particular applicant in Pune filed an RTI to collector office Pune and requested the entire data and the supporting documentation of ALL SUCH SETU applications made by citizens at Pune SETU office in last 5 years!!!Please note that a typical such application for example one for caste certificate requires supporting documentation of at least 10 pages!..

In one day a typical SETU center receives minimum 50-60 such applications..and more when there is a heavy demand for certificates in June-August period when schools and colleges do ask for such certificates for admissions.So one can imagine ,what will be the number of pages collected in 5 years.....

So collector office calculated the cost of giving such information which came to Rs.13.5 Lakhs!!..However the real problem came when administartion filed the reply to the applicant.Generally,the applicant has to pay Rs 2 per page of information,but as per the RTI act,applicants below poverty line are to be provided the information free of cost...

So now collector office is in a fix and has requested for special aid to Govt for making this information available.

Such incidences also show that the act has been grossly misused and its effect is diluted.
Please free to put in your comments!

RTI is a big tool to avoid corruption

Hi All,

This message is to let you all know that,as citizens of India,we can get
our work done through the government with simple tools like Right to
Information Act (RTI).

Here is a personal example:

I was inspired by the Right to Information campaign from Mr.Shailesh Gandhi
and decided to use the act for getting the status of my Income Tax Return.

My case was pretty simple:I received my refund order cheque for assessment
year 2003-04 very late in Jan 2005 (The cheque was dated Oct 2004 and it
was valid only for 3 months).So by the time actually I received the
cheque,it was the last date of the validity.

Still I deposited the same in my bank account and somehow it went for
clearing on the last minute.The problem occurred when the bank returned the
cheque to me next week saying that they did not receive the "payment
advice" from the Income Tax department.

Frustrated by the same I went to my CA who in turn told me to pay 10 % of
the refund amount as bribe to the income tax officer through him as "it was
usual practice by IT officers "..he claimed!

I did not pursue it that time as in principle I am against paying any
bribes.

However after studying the RTI Act 2005,I decided to use the RTI Act
myself for this case after 3 years !

I drafted an application on simple paper with all my details and the
information wanted.(Format is attached here),and submitted in the GPO's
(Post office ) RTI Desk after attaching a Rs 10 Indian Postal Order.(It is
Post's responsibility to accept such applications pertaining to central
govt departments and forward the same to concerned department at their own
expense and give you acknowledgement.)

I was not expecting a prompt response anyway knowing how government reacts
! (as I anyway handle Govt accounts for TCS).

But to my surprise,within 5 days I received a call from Income Tax officer
concerned and he apologized for the delay in processing my refund.He also
assured me that he will process my refund cheque within 1-2 days .

And I really received my cheque at home by registered post.!!!!!

My expenses for the same was just Rs 10 for fee as per RTI act.I did not
have to grease any palms in Income Tax office.Also I never had to go
personally to anyone and request.


Please be a responsible citizen and do not give bribes to Govt officers.Use
RTI as a tool in your hand.

You may call/write to me in case you need any help in using the act.