Times of India: Lucknow: Friday,
October 25, 2013.
Fearful of
threats to security, the Indian Army will no longer provide answers to RTI
applications received online. The Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy,
however, maintain they have no problem in providing information sought by
citizens in such a manner.
According to
army officials, the issue of answering RTI queries filed online came under the
scanner recently when a person sought details regarding the army's technical
services division through the recently floated website
http:///www.rtionline.gov.in. The applicant had sought information from the
Union defence ministry, which transferred the query to the army.
"We'll
provide information on an RTI application only after receiving a signed copy of
the application," said the army's central public information officer.
But the IAF
and the navy do not see any threat from online RTI queries.
"As of
now, the bulk of RTI queries we receive is either through the Prime Minister's
Office or the ministry of defence," said Wing Commander S V R Moorthy,
central public information officer, IAF. "Only a minuscule [number] of the
RTI applications comes to us online and we've no problem continuing to receive
them."
A public
information officer of the navy, who refused to be identified, said:
"After the introduction of the online system of filing RTI queries, we've
witnessed a surge of 300%-400% in the number of applications received. Most of
the queries come to us through the defence ministry and only a few applicants
reach us online, and we've no problem with it."
While home
ministry officials were non-committal when asked whether the online RTI mode
will do them more harm than good, external affairs ministry officials said they
had no problem. "As far as the online mode of seeking information under
the RTI Act is concerned, we've no problem and will continue to provide
information in the existing manner to those seeking it, until a new system is
put in place," said an official dealing with RTIs in external affairs
ministry.
According to
RTI experts, the government website http:///www.rtionline.gov.in allows
citizens to file RTI applications online. A database of the people making
requests is accessible, since payments are made through internet banking (by
credit or debit card). This also helps in checking the genuineness of the
applicants and in avoiding impersonation.
The website
allows applicants to have a password-secured account, where they can see
replies and also get them on their email accounts, so no third person receives
the information.
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