The Indian government is planning to publish Right to Information requests online, reports The Economic Times. We're not sure of what kind of impact this will have. It could lead to: 1. A reduction in overall requests if queries have already been answered. 2. A reduction in legitimate requests if the applicants personal details are also published. This was pointed out by Gautam John. Importantly, though, the note quoted by The Economic Times states that "It may be noted that RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating to personal information of an individual may not be disclosed, if they do not serve any public interest." That means that it is up to the publishing authority, and the applicants details are not necessarily going to be published. Note the usage of the phrase 'may not be disclosed', instead of 'should not be disclosed' 3. A reduction in frivolous requests if the applicants personal details are also published. This was pointed out by Swaraj Barooah) 4. More careful responses to queries. Some government departments decline providing answers on frivolous grounds, hoping that the applicant might not file an appeal. We've had 2 RTI's rejected in the last month: one by the Reserve Bank of India, where they declined to disclose some information on grounds of it being confidential, and another by the DIPP, on the grounds that it would take up a disproportionate amount of resources for the department to put the information together. In each instance, there were parts of the queries wherein…
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