Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge asked questions to the government in Rajya Sabha regarding the rejection rate of RTI applications. The Congress President asked whether the number of RTI applications received by each Ministry/Department of the Government during the last 5 years and the number and percentage of RTI applications rejected by each Ministry/Department during this period.
Apart from this, Kharge also sought information about the most commonly cited reasons for rejection, ministry/department-wise and the steps being taken by the government to reduce the rejection rate of RTI applications and ensure greater transparency in administration.
What did Union Minister Jitendra Singh tell?
Responding to these questions, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office, said that data on RTI applications received, rejected (section-wise) and percentage of rejection by each Ministry/Department of the Government of India is available in Annex-1 of the Annual Report of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for the respective years.
He said that applications for information can be rejected on the grounds prescribed in various sections of the RTI Act 2005. The rejection rate of RTI applications has decreased in percentage from 7.21% in the year 2013-14 to 3.26% in 2024-25. The minister said that the Central Information Commission organizes annual conferences to increase awareness about the RTI Act, 2005 and its provisions.
Government spent crores of rupees
Further, the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) runs an annual program named “Dissemination of the RTI Act” under which financial assistance is provided to State Information Commissions (SICs) to celebrate RTI Week and to Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) to conduct workshops on the RTI Act, publish guidebooks and training materials, create awareness, training of Public Information Officers (PIOs) and Appellate Authorities, set up RTI helplines, promote scientific records management and suo-motu disclosures. Goes. ₹20.23 crore has been released to SICs and State ATIs for this purpose in the last 7 years from 2018-19 to 2024-25.
read this also
Senior advocates of Supreme Court took membership of Mohammed Deepak’s gym, made another big promise
