Want RTI information from UP? Keep it short & safe

NEW DELHI: If you seek information from Uttar Pradesh, you should be good at precis writing. The state government won’t entertain any request under the Right to Information Act if it exceeds 500 words. That’s not all. If the information isn’t maintained by a government office, it won’t be mandatory for the public information officer to transfer the request.

According to the new rules, any application that goes beyond 500 words can be rejected by a public information officer. Under the RTI Act, it is mandatory for an information officer to transfer the request of an applicant within five days of receipt if it does not pertain to his charge.

However, Section 4 (5) of the UP rules says, “…if a part or whole of the information sought from a public authority is held by two or more other public authorities, then the public information officer shall not transfer the request for information to such other public authorities.”

The rules, notified on December 3, 2015, have raised the hackles of RTI activists, who said many provisions go against the RTI Act and make applicants easy targets for life threats. Section 13 of the rules on “withdrawal, amendment or abatement of complaint or appeal” permits an applicant to withdraw an appeal.

Section 13 (3) says that a complaint or appeal shall abate on the death of the complainant or appellant. “This provision makes RTI activists an easy target for threats and attacks,” RTI activist Lokesh Batra said. “A similar attempt was also made by the central government when it was formulating its RTI rules but after protests from the civil society, these rules were not included.”

Venkatesh Nayak of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said the UP rules have at least 21 clauses that either go against the spirit of the RTI Act.