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+{{htmlmetatags>metatag-keywords=(citizen crash course module 01, rti module 01, what rti is, and what it isn't)&metatag-description=(Citizen Crash Course in RTI — Module 01: What RTI is, and what it isn't. By the end of this module, you can decide in 30 seconds whether an RTI fits your problem.)}}
+====== Module 01 — What RTI is, and what it isn't ======
+{{ :social:auto:citizen-crash-module-01.png?direct&1200 |Citizen Crash Course Module 01}}
+<WRAP center round info 95%>
+**Goal:** By the end of this module, you can decide in 30 seconds whether an RTI fits your problem.
+</WRAP>
+===== A 1-page primer on the RTI Act, 2005 =====
+Passed by Parliament in October 2005. Repealed and replaced the older Freedom of Information Act, 2002. Comes into force across India (except Jammu & Kashmir until 2019; now also covered).
+The Act has one big idea: //a citizen can ask any public authority for any record it holds, and the authority has 30 days to give it.// 10 specific exemptions exist, but the default is **disclosure**.
+The Act has 6 chapters and 31 sections. As a citizen, you'll mostly use §3, §6, §7, §8, §10, §19, §20.
+===== Who is a public authority? (§2(h)) =====
+Four kinds:
+  - Body **established by/under the Constitution** (e.g. Supreme Court, Election Commission)
+  - Body **established by Parliament/State Act** (e.g. RBI, SEBI, AIIMS)
+  - Body **owned, controlled, or substantially financed** by Government (PSUs like LIC, BEL)
+  - **NGOs substantially financed** by Government
+So: police, panchayats, municipal corporations, schools/colleges (govt + aided), hospitals (govt), banks (PSU + RBI), railways, defence (subject to §24), passports, IT, GST — all public authorities.
+===== What can you ask for? (§2(f)) =====
+**Information** — defined widely: "//any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form//."
+Key words: **records**, **documents**, **data**. These are things that **already exist** at the public authority.
+What you **cannot** ask for: future opinions, hypotheticals, why decisions were made (only what is recorded), or 'how should we…'  questions.
+===== The 4 things every RTI needs =====
+  - **PIO** — addressed to the Public Information Officer of the right department.
+  - **Fee** — usually ₹10 by Indian Postal Order (BPL exempt).
+  - **Signature** — your handwritten signature with name + address + phone.
+  - **Citizenship** — "I am a citizen of India" stated explicitly. Only Indian citizens can file under §3.
+===== Myths busted =====
+  * **"You need a lawyer."** False. Citizens were the design target. AI Drafter generates a legally-correct application in 60 seconds.
+  * **"You need to state a reason."** False. §6(2) explicitly forbids the PIO from asking why you want the information.
+  * **"It costs a lot."** False. ₹10 statutory fee. ₹50 in Tamil Nadu/Punjab/Haryana. ₹20 in Gujarat. BPL applicants pay ₹0.
+  * **"Civil servants protected from RTI."** False. Service records are disclosable to the extent they form 'public activity' (Deshpande boundary).
+  * **"PIO can refuse without reason."** False — that's a §7(8)(i) violation; First Appeal will set it aside.
+===== ✅ Quiz =====
+questions, 70% to pass. Take it from your [[:courses:citizen-crash:app|course dashboard]].
+===== Next =====
+  * [[:courses:citizen-crash:start|← Course overview]]
+  * Next module: [[:courses:citizen-crash:module-02]]
+//Last reviewed: 24 April 2026.//
+{{tag>course citizen-crash rti module-01}}

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