Accept RTI petition, fee online, Haryana told

Times of India: Chandigadh: Saturday, May 09, 2020.

The Haryana state information (http://www.speakingtree.in/topics/thoughts/information) commission (SIC) has ordered the state government to evolve a mechanism through which the applications under the RTI Act are received through a unique email ID and fee in accepted online in view of non-availability of postal services due to Covid-19 pandemic. The decision is far reaching and would ensure that the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act are not rendered unworkable during the ongoing lockdown.

Haryana chief information commissioner Yash Pal Singal  has directed the chief secretary’s office to consider to issue appropriate instructions to all the public authorities that a unique e-mail id be created for the designated SPIOs in this regard and reflected in their respective website. 

A system of online acceptance of RTI fees may also be evolved if possible at this stage, says the order passed by Singal. “The commission recommends to the chief secretary to government, Haryana, in administrative reforms department under section 25 (5) of the RTI Act, 2005, to consider to evolve a system after coordinating with the National Informatics Centre,Haryana civil secretariat, in the spirit of the RTI Act and take steps towards providing a platform for implementation of proviso of Section 7 (1) of the RTI Act, 2005,” held the SIC. 

The chief information commissioner Haryana has passed these orders while hearing an extraordinary complaint filed by Harinder Dhingra, a Gurgaon-based RTI activist.