Question : RTI Act

(a) whether the RTI Act brought into force is not being implemented with the vigour and thrust and is constantly and consistently losing its pace and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of such cases where the response to an RTI application was delayed for more than a year that too without citing any reason and the cases where repeated reminders have not yielded any results;

(c) the action taken by the Central Information Commission (CIC) in such cases and the cases which have been brought to its notice; and

(d) the list of cases where punishment was awarded by the CIC but not complied with?

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office. (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)


(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the table of the House.


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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 60 BY SHRI PINAKI MISRA FOR 19.07.2017 REGARDING ‘RTI ACT’

(a): No, Madam. Instead, the Right to Information (RTI) Act is being implemented with greater vigor & thrust during the last 3 years. The maximum permissible (Ten) Information Commissioners were appointed by the Government in Central Information Commission in February, 2016. The number of Public Authorities aligned with RTI Online portal for online filing of RTI applications and First Appeals have shown significant increase. The Government has conducted enhanced audio campaigns to create awareness amongst the citizens about various aspects of RTI such as proactive disclosure and RTI Online portal. Since the RTI Act is not losing its pace, the question of providing any such details does not arise.

(b): As informed by the Central Information Commission, the data regarding number of cases where response to an RTI application was delayed for more than a year that too without citing any reason and where repeated reminders have not yielded any results is not maintained by the Commission.

(c): While disposing the appeal and complaint cases, the Central Information Commission exercise their statutory powers under the provision of the RTI Act, 2005 and decide cases on merit keeping in view the facts and circumstances of a particular case.

(d): The details of the cases where penalties were imposed by the Central Information Commission on Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) during the last three years are as under:

Year No. of cases where penalty was imposed
2013-14 138
2014-15 44
2015-16 54

Penalties imposed by the Central Information Commission are complied with by the Public Authorities by making recoveries from salaries of the penalized officers. This is a continuous process and is monitored by the Commission.

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