Times of India: New
Delhi: Friday, May 31, 2013.
Filing RTI
applications now becomes easier as government extends e-filing of both requests
and petitions and enabling people to pay through web based payment gateway.
After launching the facility for department of personnel and training (DoPT)
recently, on June 3 (Monday) this will be extended to nearly half a dozen
departments including road transport and highways ministry.
DoPT has
already launched the portal, , to file RTI applications/ first appeals online
along with payment gateway. Payment can be made through internet banking of SBI
and its associate banks and debit/ credit cards of Master/ Visa. Through this
portal, RTI applications/ first appeals can be filed for the main ministries/
departments of Central government located in the national capital.
After filing
their applications, the citizens can track the status and will also get online
reply from the ministries/ departments. However, the website mentions that such
applications should not be filed for other public authorities under Central/
state governments through this portal. This includes the entire Delhi
government.
Sources said
DoPT officials told highway ministry officials on Thursday that the number of
RTI applications that they receive has increased manifold since the facility
was started. As of now Ministry of Home Affairs, departments of agriculture,
animal husbandry, dairy and fishery, consumer affairs, food and public
distribution.
While RTI
activist Subhash Agrawal welcomed the initiative he said the service will have
practical limitation because of public authorities being in very large numbers
apart from government departments and ministries. "System should be
formulated whereby there may be sub options for undertakings after main options
of departments and ministries respectively controlling these
undertakings," he pointed out.
He added that
the DoPT should also take up issuing RTI-stamps or numbered RTI-coupons as the
simplest mode of paying fees and copying charges. It will not only save
petitioners of cumbersome use of postal orders for the payment mode, but also
save largely on handling cost of postal orders.
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