1. I received a email from a member of this forum asking if a
PIO (Person of
Indian Origin) card holder can make a application under the Right to Information Act.
The MHA website states that a
PIO card holder shall have:
(iv) Parity with NRIs in respect of all facilities available to the later in the economic, financial and educational fields except in maters relating to the acquisition of agricultural/ plantation properties. No parity shall be allowed in the sphere of political rights.
(The spelling mistake is not mine, I just copied and pasted)
(
http://www.mha.nic.in/oci/chart.pdf)
As per my understanding,
RTI is not Economic, Financial or Educational. Neither is it Political right.
So can a
PIO card holder use
RTI ?
2. While we are on the subject, can members also clarify, if a OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) or a Dual Citizenship holder, can use
RTI ?
The MHA website says about OCI:
(iii) Parity with Non resident Indians (NRIs) in respect of economic, financial and educational fields except in relation to acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties. No parity shall be allowed in the sphere of political rights. Any other benefits to OCIs will be notified by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) under Section 7B(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
(
http://www.mha.nic.in/oci/chart.pdf)
Which is basically same as the
PIO card holder's rights with the addition of
"Any other benefits to OCIs will be notified by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) under Section 7B(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955."
Thanks
Karira