Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman Department Of Environment & Forest
Andaman & Nicobar Administration
"Conserving Forest & Wildlife"
Right To Information
RTI Act
Form
PIO
RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005
The Right to Information Act (RTI) is an Act of the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the
practical regime of right to information for citizens" and replaces the erstwhile Freedom of information
Act, 2002. The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India except Jammu & Kashmir. Under the
provisions of the Act, any citizen may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government
or "instrumentality of State") which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act
also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to
pro actively certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request
for information formally. This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 12
October 2005. The first application was given to a Pune police station. Information disclosure in India was
restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act relaxes.
It codifies a fundamental right of citizens.
