In order to promote transparency and accountability in administration, the Indian Parliament enacted the Freedom of Information Act, 2002, which was repealed later and a new act, The Right to Information Act, came into force on 12 October 2005. The new law empowers Indian citizens to seek information from a Public Authority, thus making the Government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible.

Right to Information Act 2005 is an enactment made by Government of India, which mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information by all Public Authorities.

OBLIGATION UNDER THE ACT

CGTMSE is a Public Authority, as per definition of Public Authority in the Right to Information Act, 2005, and thus is under obligation to provide the information to members of public.

WHO CAN SEEK INFORMATION?

Section 3 of the Right to Information Act provides as under:

"Subject to the provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have the right to information."

Normally, an applicant is not required to submit any proof of citizenship. However, if the CPIO has any doubt about the identity of the applicant he can seek for his proof of identification.

The Act gives the right to information only to the citizens of India. It does not make provision for giving information to Corporations, Associations, and Companies etc. which are legal entities / persons but not citizens. However, if an application is made by an employee or office bearer of any Corporation, Association, Company, NGO etc. indicating his name and such employee or office bearer is a citizen of India, information may be supplied to him / her. In such cases, it would be presumed that a citizen has sought information at the address of the Corporation.

THE INFORMATION WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE

• The Act provides under sections 8 & 9, certain categories of information that are exempt from disclosure to the citizens.
• Any person desirous of obtaining information is advised to refer to the relative sections of the Act before submitting a request for information.

HOW TO APPLY FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE RTI ACT?

Only Citizens of India are eligible for making a request under the RTI Act, 2005. Thus, applicant has to give his/her citizen status along with the application.

The request for information has to be made in writing, clearly specifying the information sought under the RTI Act. The application should contain the contact details (postal address, telephone number, fax number, email address) for contacting back either for clarifications/advices or for providing information.

HOW TO SEND THE APPLICATION?

There is no prescribed format of application for seeking information. The application can be made on plain paper. The application should, however, have the name and complete postal address of the applicant. Even in cases where the information is sought electronically, the application should contain the name and postal address of the applicant. The application should be made in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is being made, accompanied by the prescribed fee and specifying the particulars of the information sought.

As per the Rules and Regulations of the RTI Act on FEE and Cost, the request for information needs to be accompanied by an application fee of Rs 10/- by way of cash against proper receipt or by DD or Banker’s Cheque favoring CGTMSE.

The application could be sent by post accompanied by the application fee of Rs.10/- payable by demand draft or bankers’ cheque or Indian Postal Order favouring CGTMSE. Further, the fee can be paid by way of cash against the proper original receipt as proof of evidence to be enclosed with application.

Applications can also be made over fax or email. However, the same shall be followed by “signed” hard copy of the said application to the CPIO concerned along with the appropriate fee. Only upon receipt of appropriate fee the application will be considered for processing. The period of 30 days shall commence from the date of receipt of proof of proper fee.”

FEE STRUCTURE UNDER RTI ACT 2005

A citizen who desires to seek some information from a public authority is required to send, along with the application (a Postal order or DD (Demand draft) or a bankers’ cheque) payable to the public authority as fee prescribed for seeking information. For online RTI applications, the payment of RTI Fee needs to be made digitally (online).

However, the Citizens belonging to Below Poverty Line Category may seek exemption from payment of RTI fee duly producing the proof of BPL Category.

The applicant may also be required to pay further fee towards the cost of providing the information, details of which shall be intimated to the applicant by the CPIO as prescribed by the RTI ACT.

DETAILED FEE STRUCTURE UNDER RTI ACT IS AS MENTIONED BELOW:

STRUCTURE OF RTI IN CGTMSE

Central Public Information Officer (CPIO)

Central Public Information Officer is responsible for giving information to a person who seeks information under the RTI Act. CGTMSE has designated officer as Central Public Information Officer (CPIO).

Appellate Authority (AA)

If an applicant is not supplied information within the prescribed time of 30 days or 48 hours, as the case may be, or is not satisfied with the information furnished to him, he may prefer an appeal to the First Appellate Authority who is an officer senior in rank to the Central Public Information Officer. CGTMSE has designated officers as Appellate Authority in CGTMSE.

TO WHOM TO SEND / SUBMIT THE REQUEST?

The requests/ applications are to be submitted to the CPIO as per the details given below:

TO WHOM TO SEND / SUBMIT THE APPEAL?

If the applicant decides to make an appeal against the non-response / information provided by the CPIO, the appeal has to be sent / submitted to the First Appellate Authority as per the details given below:

TIME NORMS FOR DISPOSAL OF REQUESTS AND APPEALS REQUESTS AS PER RTI ACT:

If the applicant decides to make an appeal against the non-response / information provided by the CPIO, the appeal has to be sent / submitted to the First Appellate Authority as per the details given below:

If a public authority fails to comply with the specified time limit, the information to the concerned applicant would have to be provided free of charge.

Appeals:

• The appeal should be disposed off within 30 days of receipt of the appeal.
• In exceptional cases, the Appellate Authority may take 45 days for its disposal for which reasons are recorded.

MAKING APPEAL WITH CIC

If the applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the First Appellate Authority of CGTMSE, he/she can appeal to the Central Information Commission (CIC) as per the rules of the RTI Act 2005.

ANY OTHER INFORMATION WITH REGARD TO RTI ACT 2005

ABOUT US

A brief about CGTMSE along with links for related information is provided in the www.cgtmse.in.

YOUR SUGGESTIONS

If you have any suggestion for CGTMSE for disclosing any information in addition to what is already disclosed in its public domain, please send the same by email at ceosecretariat@cgtmse.in

Suggestions should not include the requests for information for individuals and specific information on adhoc basis, for which the request/application has to be made under the RTI Act, 2005.

DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION TO PUBLIC THROUGH CGTMSE’S WEB SITE

CGTMSE places the up to date information about its Products / Services / Facilities available to public/any other information, which can be disclosed, in public domain.

Public can access the same at www.cgtmse.in.

ANNUAL REPORT

CGTMSE’s latest annual report is available for public at the www.cgtmse.in.