Every Indian citizen has the Right of Information under the Right to Information Act, 2005. This right has been given to us, the citizens of India, to empower us and encourage a corruption free nation. Furthermore, the act was passed to encourage transparency and accountability in the working of the Government.

Do Note: The Act extends to all states of India except the states of Jammu and Kashmir.

What is Right of Information?

As stated above, every citizen of India can demand certain information from the Government under the Right to Information. India is a democracy, which is a ‘Government of the people, by the people and for the people’, in order to make this definition of democracy a reality, the RTI was passed in 2005.

When Can You Use Your Right of Information?

Let’s say you notice a streetlight not functioning properly in your locality and you notice nothing is being done to address the issue. In this case, you will first be required to contact an MLA.

Now, if the MLA claims that work is in progress regarding the issue but you still don’t find anything being done about it, you can use your right of information.

In order to use your right of information an application is to be sent to the concerned authorities, who then review your application and take decision on what has to be done. However, there are a number of steps that need to be taken care of while filing an RTI request.

Click here if you need any help in filing an RTI Application.

Coming back to the use of your right of information, another instance will be that of you facing some problems, maybe due to construction of a certain road on which work seems to be going on for months. In this case too, you can file an application with the RTI and the authorities would help you to solve your grievance.

There are more such instances where you can use the power of RTI to make your and other’s lives better. 

Also, if you face a delay in receiving any document such as passports, or say getting your IT refund; you may file an RTI seeking information regarding the status of your documents / refund.

The Right to Information Act also enables a citizen to go and physically inspect the documents and records of the government in search of some information. Check out more details here.

For more queries and doubts, feel free to discuss them in our forum.

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