Greater Kashmir: Srinagar: Friday, October 24, 2014.
Taking
transparency to another level, the government of India on Tuesday directed all
its ministries and departments to suo motu display RTI applications and
responses thereof, on their respective websites from October 31.
However, the
DoPT instructions in this regard do leave scope for withholding RTI replies
that contain personal information relating to an individual. "It may be
noted that RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating
to the personal information of an individual may not be disclosed if they do
not serve any public interest," said the DoPT note circulated to all Union
ministries and departments on Tuesday.
To facilitate
uploading of RTI applications and appeals received and their responses on the
website, a new feature has been added to the CPIO/FAA's module on the RTI
online portal on pilot basis for DoPT. Through this feature, an option is given
to the CPIO and FAA to upload the reply to RTI query and first appeal
respectively on the department's website. This particular feature will now be
extended to other ministries and departments as well. To display the RTI
applications received in the ministry/department and the reply given using this
feature, web services will be provided through a URL to each ministry or
department by NIC or DoPT.
The DoPT
instructions in this regard do leave scope for withholding RTI replies that
contain personal information relating to an individual.
"The
concerned ministry/department needs to consume this web service (by writing a
program) to display the desired contest on its respective website," the
DoPT note said while asking the ministries and departments to take the help of
NIC or DoPT experts in this regard. "An immediate action is requested so
that the facility to upload the reply to RTI application and first appeal
respectively on the website of the respective ministry/department may be
started with effect from October 31, 2014," directed the DoPT.