All central ministries and departments will mandatorily upload on their website their replies to Right to Information (RTI) requests from 31 October, to comply with yesterday’s directive issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DPT), reported the Economic Times and others.

Currently the government replies to individual RTI applicants by post, either providing them the requested information in paper or in electronic form, or asking the applicant to inspect relevant documents at the government department’s premises, or rejecting the request.

Applicants often publish their RTI replies anonymously through various media channels, after redacting their own particulars. When the DPT’s directive is implemented, the particulars of the applicants may also be disclosed transparently on the ministry or departments’ websites.

RTI activists have often faced threats and reprisals.

@bhanupriyarao: Here is the circular http://t.co/0eca5k6ENt Worth writing to DoPT + NIC contacts given there

Last year the UPA government launched an online portal to file RTIs with 82 ministries and departments.