The Brave Pedestrian

  1) A good RTI application as boring as a laundry list. It is a bare list of items of information WITHOUT ANY reasoning. If the first draft of RTI application is interesting to read, something is wrong. Make corrections by deleting the interesting material, such as logical threads of reasoning and justification. You must focus on how to draft an RTI application that DOES NOT disclose the overall nature of the problem in your mind. It must not give a glimpse of what you intend to do with the requested information e.g. register police complaints, approach investigating agencies, file a PIL etc. Also, your RTI application must not indicate how badly you want the information, and therefore, please don’t mention anything such as “I am a senior citizen dependent on my pension cheques, and I have been pushed from pillar-to-post in search of this information.” When you write an RTI application, you must try to gain only information, and not sympathy, respect etc. ...

July 25, 2009: In this article, I am trying to clear the mental clutter that we passionate RTI applicants and apellants create with wishful thinking and righteous anger. My experience is limited and my knowledge is admittedly partial, but I’m doing my best to be objective. Shailesh Gandhi’s insights and mental discipline have helped me immensely. I am not claiming any expertise and authority, but only some common sense.   Shailesh Gandhi once gave me two examples for how to ask for information: a) ‘Why have I not got a ration card?’ is not asking for information; but ‘I want the progress of my file relating to my application for a ration card’ is asking information. b) ‘ Why have I not got admission?’ is not asking for information, whereas ‘I want the cutoff marks at which admission was given’ is asking for information. Under Chapter 2 of RTI Act 2005 titled “Right to Information and Obligations of Public Authorities”, Section 3 states: “Subject to the provisions of this ...