Kerala Police switch to online mode

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In order to give a fillip to transparency, Kerala Police have switched to the online mode to accept queries based on Right to Information (RTI) Act, thereby becoming one of the first departments in the state to do so. With this facility, the citizens can now submit their RTI applications through email without going to the police stations.State Director General of Police Jacob Punoose told Express that the decision was taken to make the process of using the RTI Act hassle-free for the citizens. “The application form can be downloaded from the website and the query based on the RTI Act can be send via email. The requisite fees can be send to the police official concerned through a money order,” he said.He said since the practice of accepting the fees for the RTI application online has not started so far, it would have to be submitted either through post or money order. “The circular regarding this has been sent to all police stations a month ago,” he said.The application form can be downloaded from the site in both English and Malayalam. All information regarding the appellate authority and the state information officers are updated on the site to aid the public.M K Manoj, an RTI activist said that the online mode for accepting the RTI application is innovative and also would help the public immensely. “One of the main reasons as to why the RTI Act has not been properly utilised is because of  lack of awareness. Also people don’t want to spend their valuable time visiting the offices or by using ordinary mail. This step by the state police department will help in bringing more transparency and will also save a lot of time,” he said.He said with the advent of technology, online mode of cash transactions is picking up particularly amongst the youngsters. “It is high time that the government departments introduced a system to collect the RTI fees online as well. This will prompt more citizens to participate in the RTI movement. Participation of the people in availing information will also improve the governance,” he said.As per the new system, after receiving the formal application via email, the state public information officials concerned will furnish the information after scrutiny. as per the RTI Act 2005.