All the Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India have been requested to upload the reply to RTI application and first appeal on their respective websites

A facility to upload the reply of RTI applications and first appeals on the respective website of the Ministry/Department has been started from 31st October, 2014 vide Office Memorandum No. 1/1/2013-IR dated 21/10/2014 of this Department. All the Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India have been requested to upload the reply to RTI application and first appeal on their respective websites, except the replies relating to the personal information of an individual, if they do not serve any public interest. 

There is report in the media that some RTI activists and legal experts have expressed their apprehension that the said Office Memorandum of this Department may result in disclosure of applicants’ names. 

In the said Office Memorandum of this Department itself, Ministries/Departments have been asked not to upload the replies relating to the personal information of an individual, if they do not serve any public interest. Moreover, vide Office Memorandum No. 1/31/2013-IR dated 08/01/2014, a copy of the judgement (order) of the Hon’ble High Court of Kolkata in writ petition number 33290 of 2013 in the case of Avishek Goenka Vs. Union of India was circulated to all Ministries/Departments of Government of India and Chief Secretaries of all the States/UTs, wherein the Hon’ble High Court has directed to circulate the copy of its order so that the (public) authority can take appropriate measure to hide information with regard to personal detail of the activist to avoid any harassment by the persons having vested interest. 

This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Shri Jose K.Mani in the Lok Sabha today. 

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