Nation marks 10 years of Digital India, yet RTI filing with Parliament remains offline

By Rajiv Shah

As India commemorates a decade of the ambitious Digital India mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1, 2015, a critical digital gap remains unaddressed: citizens still cannot file Right to Information (RTI) applications online with the Indian Parliament.

While the RTI Act, passed in 2005, empowers citizens to seek information from public authorities, there remains no online provision for submitting RTI queries to the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. This is despite the Central Government having launched the online RTI portal (www.rtionline.gov.in) more than a decade ago, facilitating e-filing of applications to most central ministries and departments.

However, Parliament — the very institution that enacted the RTI Act — is not covered under this portal. The Lok Sabha, designated as a “competent authority” under the RTI Act, is responsible for establishing its own rules and systems. To date, it has not set up a digital mechanism for RTI submission.

Ironically, the Digital Sansad platform (https://sansad.in/), created under the Digital India mission to make parliamentary proceedings more accessible, also lacks a link or facility to file RTI applications. No separate online RTI portal exists for Parliament either.

As a result, citizens are compelled to follow the outdated method of sending a physical application along with a ₹10 Indian Postal Order or Demand Draft to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) at the Lok Sabha Secretariat in New Delhi. This process is time-consuming, expensive, and contradicts the eco-friendly and paperless vision of the Digital India initiative.

The RTI helpline operated by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (Phone: 9924085000) contacted the CPIO of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, who acknowledged that an online Sansad RTI portal is “in the process of development.” Until it becomes operational, the old physical filing method remains the only option.

Inquiries with the CPIO of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs also revealed that citizens cannot file RTIs concerning Parliament through the central RTI portal either, further highlighting the administrative loophole.

“Even after 20 years of the RTI Act and 10 years of Digital India, Parliament has no provision for online RTI filing. It’s a glaring omission that questions the seriousness of the government’s commitment to digital transparency,” said Pankti Jog, Executive Secretary of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel.

This digital exclusion of Parliament from the RTI ecosystem not only contradicts the core goals of the Digital India mission — such as easy access to services and reduced carbon footprint — but also undermines the constitutional right of citizens to seek information efficiently.

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