The odd part
Officials are now legally required to learn how to talk to the public, provided they don't actually put anything on public record that could be caught by an RTI query.
What happened
The Ministry of Defence has issued a mandatory circular forcing all senior officers to complete a digital course on 'Improving Outreach and Communication.' This masterstroke of irony comes exactly as the Economic Survey 2026 complains that the RTI Act is hurting 'bold thinking,' with bureaucrats increasingly using private WhatsApp chats to ensure their 'outreach' remains strictly off the record.