New draft rules for RTI draws flak

The proposed draft Right to Information (RTI) rules, prepared by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, have invited more criticism than praise. RTI activists say the rules dilute the very spirit of the RTI Act 2005, instead of strengthening it. The new rules aim to amend the existing ones.

DoPT uploaded the rules on its website inviting comments within 10 days between December 17 to December 27, 2010. DoPT claimed the new rules will make the implementation of the law more effective but activists differ. National Advisory Council (NAC), set up by the Centre as an interface with civil society, too has sent a critique report on RTI rules to the Centre. The critique was drafted by Aruna Roy, one of NAC members and a leading social activist who spearheaded the RTI movement.

There are several provisions in the draft rules which undermine the spirit of the law. One of the rules proposes that request for information should be related to only one subject matter and queries should not exceed 250 words. Venkatesh Nayak of access to information, a commonwealth human rights initiative said, “These restrictions are unjustified. Subject matter is not defined in the act or rules, so is open to interpretation.” This means that if a RTI applicant wants to know statistics of births and deaths from a municipal hospital, the public information officer can argue that 'birth' and ‘death’ are two different subject matters if the proposed rules are implemented, noted Krisharaj Rao, a Mumbai-based RTI activist.