How to Use RTI to Track How Government Money is Spent in Your Area

A village road, a park bench, a school classroom, a streetlight pole — each is paid for by money collected from taxes, cesses, and Central / State transfers. When that money is spent well, the community grows. When it leaks, the community is poorer — quietly, invisibly.

Transparency of spending does three things at once:

1. Aligns intent and outcome. The same scheme on paper and on the ground.
2. Rewards good officers. An honest PWD engineer can point to an RTI reply and say “here is proof of delivery”.
3. Lowers the cost of good governance. Audits become cheaper; Comptroller & Auditor General needs less to chase.

RTI is not an attack on government. It is the quiet contract between citizen and state.

• Sanctions: the administrative approval order, the technical sanction, the financial sanction, and the release of funds.
• Tenders: the NIT (notice inviting tenders), the estimated cost, the bidders, the L1 evaluation, the letter of award.
• Contracts: the signed agreement, the bill of quantities (BoQ), the schedule of rates.
• Execution: measurement book (MB) entries, running bills (RA bills), muster rolls (labour register), inspection reports.
• Completion: final bill, completion certificate, defects liability period.
• Third-party reports: quality tests by the state technical university, engineer-in-chief's audit.
• Beneficiary lists: for PMAY, MNREGA, scholarship, subsidy — under Section 4(1)(b)(xii).

• You see a half-built road in your ward and the contractor has vanished.
• A school building was sanctioned two years ago and is still “Under Construction”.
• A public park got budget in the last Assembly — and nothing has been built.
• A scholarship list has names of students who never attended school.
• An electricity pole shows a painted tender number — you want to know if the painting matches the tender.

1. For Central schemes (PM-KISAN, PMAY, NHAI road projects, MNREGA central share): rtionline.gov.in.
2. For State works (panchayat, municipal, PWD, SE engineer, irrigation, forest): your state's RTI portal — list at State RTI Portals Directory.

1. Write the application on plain paper.
2. Attach IPO / Demand Draft for Rs. 10 in favour of the Accounts Officer of the relevant department.
3. Send by Speed Post (acknowledgement due) to the CPIO / SPIO of the executing department — not to the Collector. Collectors redirect; departments act.

• Central: Rs. 10 filing, Rs. 2 per page for copies.
• State: Rs. 10 in most states, up to Rs. 100 in a few. See RTI Fees by State.
• BPL card holders pay nothing.

1. Day 0 — you file.
2. Day 30 — reply mandatory (48 hours if life / liberty is at stake).
3. Day 31–60 — First Appeal if reply is missing or evasive.
4. Day 60+ — Second Appeal to the State / Central Information Commission.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
[Executing Department — e.g., Executive Engineer, PWD Division, or Block Development Officer, or Municipal Engineer, or Executive Officer, Gram Panchayat],
[Address]

Subject: Application under the Right to Information Act, 2005, regarding public expenditure on [describe the work — e.g., "construction of the CC road from Ward 5 Bus Stand to Nehru Chowk", or "renovation of the Government Primary School, [Village / Ward], [District]"].

Sir/Madam,

I, [Full Name], citizen of India, resident of [Full Address], submit the following request for information under the RTI Act, 2005:

Work description: [As above, with location and landmark]
Sanctioning year / financial year: [YYYY-YY]
Approximate cost, as per public notice board / tender tile: Rs. _____ (if known)

Please provide:

1. A certified copy of the administrative approval order and the technical sanction for the above work, with file number and date.

2. A certified copy of the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT), estimated cost, and the comparative statement of bids received.

3. Name and address of the contractor to whom the work was awarded, with the letter of award and the signed agreement.

4. The Bill of Quantities (BoQ) and the schedule of rates applied.

5. Measurement Book (MB) entries for the work, along with the dates of inspection and the officer's signatures.

6. Running account bills / part payments released to the contractor, with dates and amounts.

7. Copy of the completion certificate, the third-party quality test report, and the final bill.

8. The defects liability period, current status, and any penalty deducted for delay.

9. Name, designation, and posting of the engineer-in-charge.

10. Whether the expenditure has been audited by the local fund / statutory auditor, and if so, the audit paragraph reference.

I enclose Indian Postal Order No. __________ dated __________ for Rs. _____ as the prescribed RTI fee.

I declare that I am an Indian citizen.

Yours faithfully,

[Full Name]
[Signature]
[Date] [Place]

1. Total sanctioned amount and date of administrative approval.
2. Tender ID, bidder list, L1-award justification.
3. Contractor's name, address, PAN, and GST number.
4. Bill of Quantities item-wise.
5. Running bills released, with dates.
6. Measurement book entries.
7. Third-party quality test report.
8. Completion certificate and physical verification.
9. Penalty clause invocation, if any.
10. Audit paragraph reference — local fund, AG, or CAG.

• Day 0 – 7. CPIO acknowledges; file physically pulled from the records room.
• Day 7 – 20. Department collects the documents; the engineer-in-charge often inspects the site fresh, simply because an RTI has arrived.
• Day 20 – 30. Reply drafted, approved by the First Appellate Authority desk, sent.
• Day 30+. If incomplete, the citizen files First Appeal with the FAA. Free, no format, 30 days limit.
• Day 60+. Second Appeal to the SIC / CIC.

In at least 40% of cases concerning unfinished works, the simple fact that an RTI has been received accelerates the contractor. Officers prefer to tick the completion box rather than explain the delay in a written reply.

• Ward-level audit. A citizens' group in Bengaluru used RTI to compare tender BoQs with site measurements, surfaced a 14% discrepancy, and recovered material.
• Village council oversight. A gram sabha in Bundelkhand used RTI on MNREGA muster rolls to identify 18 “phantom” labourers; payroll cleaned up.
• School PTA. Parents in Chhattisgarh used RTI on mid-day-meal allocation to check that every rupee released reached the kitchen.
• RWA monitoring. A Delhi RWA used RTI on street-light contracts; 32 poles were installed within three weeks of the reply.

• Filing to the wrong authority (sending a municipal-road RTI to the DC office). Send to the executing department.
• Asking broad questions (“all road works in the state”). RTI permits a reasonable volume; broad asks fail under Section 7(9).
• Forgetting to quote the approximate cost or year — helps the CPIO trace the file quickly.
• Using hostile language. Officers answer facts, not rhetoric.
• Not following up with a First Appeal if the reply is vague.

• Photograph the tender tile / work board at the site. Every public work is required to display its board. Attach the photo to your RTI — file tracing becomes trivial.
• Use neighbourhood RTI: group together with two or three neighbours and file simultaneously. Each of you asks a slightly different angle. The department sees the community is watching.
• Request a combined reply — one certified bundle of documents — rather than separate answers, to keep costs low.
• After the reply, write a summary note for your ward's notice board. Transparency is only useful if it is read.

Q1. Who pays for RTIs on public works — the state or the citizen?
The citizen pays Rs. 10. BPL card holders pay nothing. If the department gives you copies at Rs. 2 per page, the total cost rarely exceeds Rs. 100 for a typical work file.

Q2. Can the department refuse to share the contractor's name?
No. A contractor's name on a government contract is public information, not personal information under Section 8(1)(j). His PAN / GST is also disclosable to the extent it was a commercial transaction with the state.

Q3. The department says “file untraceable”. What now?
Insist on a written certification of the loss. Under Section 20 of the RTI Act, loss of records can invite penalty on the officer. In most cases the file reappears within a week.

Q4. I am not directly affected. Can I still file RTI on a public work?
Yes. RTI gives every citizen locus standi — no “personal interest” test applies. Public spending is, by definition, of public interest.

Q5. The reply shows over-billing. What next?
(a) Send the reply to the District Vigilance Officer. (b) File a representation with the local fund auditor. © If serious, complain to the CAG. The RTI reply becomes the prima facie document.

Q6. Is there a limit on the number of RTIs I can file?
No statutory limit. But keep each application focused on one work — multi-subject RTIs are returned under Section 7(9).

Good governance is not a distant ideal. It is a spreadsheet, a measurement book, and a ward audit. When citizens ask — politely, persistently, and in writing — the quality of the next road improves. The next school roof holds. The next streetlight works.

RTI is the citizen's share of the contract. Use it as a tool for building, not only for checking.

• Pillar — RTI for community & society
• Improve roads, parks, civic facilities with RTI
• Track public projects via RTI
• File RTI online — 12-step guide
• RTI for personal problems — 5 case templates

Last reviewed: 24 April 2026. Section references from the Right to Information Act, 2005; Section 4(1)(b) proactive-disclosure duties under DoPT Office Memorandum.