New Indian Express: National: Friday, 4th July
2025.
The Lok Sabha lacks any such mechanism, forcing applicants to rely on outdated physical methods involving postal orders or in-person visits.
Ten years after the launch
of the ambitious Digital India mission, citizens still cannot file RTI
applications online with the Parliament of India.
Despite a national RTI portal enabling digital filing for central ministries, the Lok Sabha lacks any such mechanism, forcing applicants to rely on outdated physical methods involving postal orders or in-person visits.
Even the Digital Sansad portal, created to offer accessible parliamentary information, fails to provide a link or option for filing RTIs. This glaring loophole exposes a serious disconnect between Digital India’s promises and Parliament’s digital preparedness.
The RTI Act, enacted in 2005, empowers citizens to hold authorities accountable. In line with this, the Central Government launched an online portal, www.rtionline.gov.in, allowing RTIs to be filed digitally with all Union ministries, saving both time and money. But Parliament, despite being the very institution that passed the Act, has no online filing mechanism of its own.
As per the law, the Lok Sabha must frame its own rules and systems for RTI handling. Yet, the much-hyped Digital Sansad portal built to disseminate information on Lok Sabha proceedings and policy completely omits any provision for filing RTIs.
Even after two decades of the RTI law, there is neither a dedicated RTI portal for Parliament nor integration with the existing central portal.
Pankti Jog, Executive Secretary of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, said, “This outdated system means citizens must still procure a Rs 10 demand draft or postal order, send it via post, or physically visit the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) at Parliament House to file a simple RTI query.”
Jog said, “When the RTI helpline run by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel dialled the Lok Sabha Secretariat, we were told the ‘Sansad RTI online portal is in the process of development’.
Meanwhile, the CPIO at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs clarified that RTIs related to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha cannot be submitted online through the Central RTI portal.”
“This leaves citizens stuck in a 20-year-old, time-consuming, and environmentally unfriendly process, clearly showing that even after a decade, the Prime Minister’s vision for Digital India has not been absorbed by the administration,” she said.
The gap between Parliament's digital claims and the reality of citizens' access to information stands as a stark reminder: digitisation remains incomplete at the very heart of Indian democracy.
The Lok Sabha lacks any such mechanism, forcing applicants to rely on outdated physical methods involving postal orders or in-person visits.
Despite a national RTI portal enabling digital filing for central ministries, the Lok Sabha lacks any such mechanism, forcing applicants to rely on outdated physical methods involving postal orders or in-person visits.
Even the Digital Sansad portal, created to offer accessible parliamentary information, fails to provide a link or option for filing RTIs. This glaring loophole exposes a serious disconnect between Digital India’s promises and Parliament’s digital preparedness.
The RTI Act, enacted in 2005, empowers citizens to hold authorities accountable. In line with this, the Central Government launched an online portal, www.rtionline.gov.in, allowing RTIs to be filed digitally with all Union ministries, saving both time and money. But Parliament, despite being the very institution that passed the Act, has no online filing mechanism of its own.
As per the law, the Lok Sabha must frame its own rules and systems for RTI handling. Yet, the much-hyped Digital Sansad portal built to disseminate information on Lok Sabha proceedings and policy completely omits any provision for filing RTIs.
Even after two decades of the RTI law, there is neither a dedicated RTI portal for Parliament nor integration with the existing central portal.
Pankti Jog, Executive Secretary of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, said, “This outdated system means citizens must still procure a Rs 10 demand draft or postal order, send it via post, or physically visit the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) at Parliament House to file a simple RTI query.”
Jog said, “When the RTI helpline run by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel dialled the Lok Sabha Secretariat, we were told the ‘Sansad RTI online portal is in the process of development’.
Meanwhile, the CPIO at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs clarified that RTIs related to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha cannot be submitted online through the Central RTI portal.”
“This leaves citizens stuck in a 20-year-old, time-consuming, and environmentally unfriendly process, clearly showing that even after a decade, the Prime Minister’s vision for Digital India has not been absorbed by the administration,” she said.
The gap between Parliament's digital claims and the reality of citizens' access to information stands as a stark reminder: digitisation remains incomplete at the very heart of Indian democracy.
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