INTENDED AUDIENCE: Public Information Officers, APIOs, First Appellate Authorities, Lawyers, Academicians, NGOs and Civil Society Organisations, Social Activists, Beneficiaries of Government Services, Legal Advisors, Information Commissioners etc.
PREREQUISITES: Under Graduation
INDUSTRIES SUPPORT:
1. All Departments and Ministries of the Government.
2. All Public Sector Undertakings
3. All Public Authorities as defined in the RTI Act
4. All Public Universities and bodies owned and controlled and substantially financed by the Government.
5. All non-governmental organisations substantially financed by the Government.
Course layout
Week 1: History and Background to RTI
Week 2:
- Legislating RTI
- Official Secrets Act and RTI
- Role of NGOs and activist in RTI
- Mis-use of RTI
- Important SC and HC judgments in RTI
Week 3: Constitution and RTI
Week 4: Salient Features of RTI-1
Week 5: Salient features of RTI-2
Week 6: Powers and Functions of Information Commission
Week 7: Public Authority
Week 8: Exempted Information
Week 9: RTI & Its interface
• Public Records Act
• Whistleblowers Protection Act
• Judiciary and RTI
Week 10:
• Ecological perspective on RTI
• Lessons from RTI: Sakaala: Public Service Guarantee Act
Week 11: RTI: A comparative perspective
• Comparative Constitutional and Comparative FOI regime
• RTI in Srilanka
Week 12: How to Draft RTI Application and Appeals: Do it yourself
Books and references
1. Book- Sairam Bhat [ed], Right to Information and Good Governance, NLSIU Book Series-3, 2016. [ISBN-9789383363452]
2. Book-Sairam Bhat, Right to Information, Eastern Book House, 2012. [ISBN-978838021553]
3. Dr. Sairam Bhat; Reposing the Constitutional Trust through the Right to Information, NLSIU Journal, 2013.
4. Subhash Chandra Agrawal; My Experiences on RTI & Judiciary, Central Information Commission, 2012.
5. Praveen Dala; Consumer Protection and Right to Information; Central Information Commission, 2007.
6. Harsh Mander and Abha Joshi; The Movement for Right to Information in India: People’s Power for the Control of Corruption; http://www.rtigateway.org.in
7. Srinivas Madhav; Election and Right to Information; http://www.rtigateway.org.in
8. Analysing Right to Information, CTUS International, 2010.
9. M. M. Ansari, Impact of Right to Information on Development: A Perspective on India’ s Recent Experiences, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2008. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001865/186510m.pdf
10. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Right to Information: International, Member State’s Laws and Papers;http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/international/laws_&_papers.htm
11. Global Trends on the Right to Information: A Survey of South Asia. http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/south-asia-foi-survey.pdf
12. Dr. Sairam Bhat; ‘Best Practices under RTI Act 2005: Lessons from Central Silk Board, Administrative Training Institute, Mysore, 2011
13. Prabodh Saxena; Public Authority and RTI, Economic and Political Weekly, April 2009, Vol XLIV no. 16.
14. Priyanka Jana; Limitation of the Right to Information Act; Global Media Journal – Indian Edition Winter Issue / December 2010.
15. Pankaj K P Shreyaska; Investigating Compliance of the RTI Act; Economic & Political Weekly; March 2, 2013 vol KLV III no 9
BARE ACTS TO BE REFERRED TO:
1. Right to Information Act, 2005
2. Official Secrets Act, 1923
3. Whistle-blowers’ Protection Act, 2011
4. Indian Evidence Act, 1972
5. Public Records Act, 1993
Instructor bio
Prof. Sairam Bhat
Prof. Dr. Sairam Bhat, Professor of Law at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, India’s pioneer legal institution, with over 20 years of experience in the legal fraternity. His areas of specialization include the Law relating to Public Private Partnerships, Competition Law, Tendering, Contract Management, Environment Protection and the Law on Right to Information.
He has served as a Consultant to several Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations and has conducted several training programmes and workshops for various officers of Government of India, and other State Governments under the aegis of various government bodies including the Administrative Training Institute, Mysore; National Academy of Direct Taxes, Delhi; Vaizag Steel; Central Silk Board; National Productivity Council; GIPARD, Goa and Fiscal Policy Institute, Bengaluru.
He did his LL.M, and Ph.D from the Department of Law, University of Mysore and has been awarded the ‘Young India Environmental Law Fellowship’ and served as Adjunct Faculty at Golden Gate University, California, USA, during the fall, 2003. As a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow, 2010, he was a ‘Visiting Researcher’ at the Georgetown University, Law Centre Washington DC, during Aug-Dec. 2010. He was also a Linnaeus-Palme Academic Exchange Fellow at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 2012-13. He has published books titled, Natural Resources Conservation Law [SAGE], Right to Information [Eastern Book House], Contracts, Agreements and Public Policy [NLSIU Book Series -1], Energy Law and Policy in India [NLSIU Book Series-2], Right to Information and Good Governance [NLSIU Books Series-3]. He is also the Chief Editor of the Journal on Environmental Law, Policy and Development and Journal on Law and Public Policy, published by NLSIU.
Course certificate
The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: 29 October 2023 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.
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