NDTV: New Delhi: Thursday, April 06,
2017.
The Centre,
on Wednesday, said no change has been effected in either the fee structure or
the word limit for queries under the Right to Information Act. The government
further dubbed them as "misleading" media reports. The government
said it is committed to ensure full and easy implementation of the Right to
Information law.
"A
factually incorrect and misleading news report appeared in a section of the
media that a new set of RTI rules has been formulated, which creates
difficulties and hurdles in the rights of the citizens to get information from
the government," the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
said in a statement.
"It has
been alleged that the size of the RTI queries has been restricted to 500 words
and a provision of fee increase has been unfairly introduced in the
rules," the government added.
The Congress
on Monday accused the Centre of seeking to subvert the RTI Act, saying new
draft rules give power to authorities to reject an application if it is of more
than 500 words and also force a steep hike in charges on the applicant.
"The
facts are totally to the contrary. On July 31, 2012, the Central government
notified the RTI rules under Section 27 of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
"A copy
of existing rules is available on the official website of Department of
Personnel and Training. The rules provided that an RTI application will
ordinarily be not more than 500 words (subject to exception) with a nominal fee
being charged from each applicant. These rules were framed and notified in
2012," the ministry statement said.
"However,
the legality of the Central Information Commission (Management) Regulations,
2007, was challenged before the Delhi High Court and these were quashed,"
the statement added.
The ministry
said the matter has been pending before the Supreme Court.
"The
government, therefore, decided, in consultation with the CIC, that a
comprehensive set of rules be notified by consolidating the key provisions of
CIC (Management) Regulations and also the Rules of 2012," it said.
"The key
provisions of the RTI Rules, 2012, have been identically incorporated verbatim.
No change has been made in the RTI fee structure. The government is committed
to ensuring full and easy implementation of the Right to Information Act,"
it added.