Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) — which looks after implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act — has made it mandatory to have a stamp of "true copy of the document" if certified documents have been sought under central government or ministries.
A circular issued on Friday by DoPT stated: "In case the documents to be certified and supplied are in large numbers, information on the RTI application should be supplied by a designated PIO but the certification of the documents, if need be, could be done by another junior gazetted officer."
The circular comes in the wake of replies that do not follow proper procedure. All these are details that are anyways present in the Act. However, officials do not follow the norms. And the circular was issued so that rules are strictly implemented.
Besides, the circular also goes on to state the general essentials the reply should have. These include name, designation, phone number and e-mail id of the CPIO for the applicant. The same should be given for the first appellate authority as well. It also re-iterated for officials that they provide reasons in the Act used to deny any information.
"It is a very important guideline issued by the department. We make applications with several bodies at the central government but they do not mention anyone's name. Why the information was declined is also not given," said Rajiv Datta, an RTI activist.
