Right to Information Wiki Blog
Quick Reply: RTI Wiki blog — analysis, case-law summaries, and citizen guides on Right to Information Act 2005.
Latest RTI decision notes
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- Monday Morning RTI Checklist: Fix Pending Government Work This Week — Monday action plan for pending passport, pension, ration card, FIR, PMAY, electricity, scholarship, mutation and public-service files.
- PMAY status stuck or subsidy delayed? Use RTI after this checklist — high-interest PMAY 2026 guide covering stuck beneficiary status, missing names, delayed instalments, subsidy confusion, grievance steps and record-based RTI drafting.
- BCCI outside RTI: CIC decision in Geeta Rani case explained — legal analysis of CIC/MOYAS/A/2018/123236 after the Madras High Court remand, including Section 2(h), government control, substantial financing, tax concessions and practical RTI routes.
Privacy and RTI: Filing Smart in the DPDP Era (2026 Guide)
Quick Reply: File RTI after DPDP 2026: 5 proven strategies beating the wave of Section 8 1 j rejections. RTI Wiki — India's independent Right to Information reference, 2026.
Practice this in 30 seconds. Use our free RTI Assistant — AI-driven drafting, First Appeal, Second Appeal in one place.
Did you know? A well-drafted “aggregate” RTI wins almost every time, even after the 14 November 2025 amendment. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 did not touch Section 8(2), the public-interest override. That clause is still your lifeline.
In one line. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, notified on 14 November 2025, substituted the text of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. A steep share of Q1 2026 RTIs have been refused on the strength of that substitution. This guide shows how to draft an application the Public Information Officer cannot refuse by reflex.
What that means in practice.
- Names trigger rejections. Naming an officer or a citizen in the question is the fastest route to a Section 8(1)(j) refusal.
- Aggregates and functions win. Ask about the department's spending, the scheme's cost, the tender's award criteria, not about who drew what.
- Section 8(2) is intact. The public-interest override survives the amendment and must be read into every refusal.
File RTI after DPDP 2026: 5 proven strategies beating the wave of Section 8(1)(j) rejections. India's independent Right to Information reference, updated 2026.
Updated: 20 April 2026. Rejection rates reported above 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.
Van Mahotsav Week 2026: Trees, Heat, Water and Your Rights
Quick Reply: Van Mahotsav Week 2026 is from 1 to 7 July. Learn its history, why trees matter, and how RTI can track plantation survival.
Last reviewed: 2026-06-29
Van Mahotsav Week 2026 begins on 1 July 2026 and continues until 7 July 2026. Van Mahotsav means the “festival of trees,” and PIB describes it as an annual tree-planting festival celebrated across India. It was launched in 1950 by Shri K. M. Munshi, then Union Minister for Agriculture and Food. (PIB/MoEFCC explainer)
A tree is not a photo opportunity. It is a public-service asset. If it survives, it gives shade to pedestrians, cools school playgrounds, supports birds, slows soil erosion, improves liveability and becomes part of a neighbourhood's environmental infrastructure. If it dies after the event, public money, public land and public trust are wasted.
Answer first. Van Mahotsav Week 2026 is from 1 July to 7 July 2026. India celebrates it as an annual tree plantation festival to encourage forest conservation and public participation. It was launched in 1950 by Shri K. M. Munshi. Citizens should care because one protected tree can support shade, water, air, biodiversity and public health over many years. Today, plant only where a sapling can be watered, guarded, tracked and allowed to survive.
Digital vs Physical RTI: Channel Decides Outcome
Quick Reply: Hard data on how online RTIs compare to postal RTIs — reply rates, response time, cost, deemed refusal, appeal outcomes.
If you file your Right to Information application at rtionline.gov.in, you are ~14 percentage points more likely to receive a reply within 30 days than a citizen who files the same question by registered post — and ~32 points more likely than one who files it on a state portal. This long-form analysis of ~22.4 lakh Central-government RTIs filed in FY 2023-24 (DoPT Annual Report + rtionline.gov.in weekly disclosures + field audits by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Satark Nagrik Sangathan) answers a question the policy literature has long sidestepped with anecdote: does the channel actually change the outcome? Short answer — yes, substantially, and asymmetrically across classes of information, states, and exemption clauses cited. Long answer follows, with every chart machine-readable and every number sourced.
In this evaluation:
Reviewed on: 23 April 2026. Maintained by the RTI Wiki editorial team. Data compiled from: DoPT RTI Annual Report 2022-23 (latest published), Central Information Commission (CIC) Annual Report 2023-24, rtionline.gov.in weekly application disclosures (DoPT Form C), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) Tilting the Balance of Power (2024 update), Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) People's Monitoring of the RTI Regime (2023-24).