Information commissioner exhorts illiterate RTI applicant to learn to write name.

Times of India: Lucknow: Satuday, May 03, 2025.

Apart from his usual role of deciding cases related to the Right to Information Act, information commissioner Mohd Nadeem encouraged an applicant to learn to read and write his name.

Jhikkan, a 42-year-old fisherman from Siddharthnagar district, had appeared in connection with an appeal filed in his primary case. Jhikkan sought information related to his village which was not provided to him.

To register his presence in the RTI commissioner's office, he requested an ink pad so that he could put his thumb impression. Information commissioner Nadeem asked him why he couldn't sign to which he replied that he never attended school due to his poor financial background.

Jhikkan informed the commissioner that he was sending his children to school.

Eventually, the commissioner heard the petition and issued an order. At the same time, he asked Jhikkan to make effort to learn to read and write. He insisted that Jhikkan must learn to write his name instead of putting a thumb impression. He said that he would be happy to meet Jhikkan at the next hearing, fixed for June 5, and see him writing his name.