What happened
The Maharashtra government has drafted revisions to its Right to Information rules that introduce three simultaneous barriers to public information requests. The application fee rises from ₹10 to ₹30 — a 200% increase — with further charges added for appeals and document copies. Applicants must now furnish proof of Indian citizenship before their request is processed, even though the RTI Act already restricts applications to Indian citizens and there is no stated problem the requirement solves. Most controversially, applicants must disclose the purpose for seeking information, giving public information officers discretion to evaluate the motive behind a request before deciding whether to fulfil it. Transparency activists say the changes invert the purpose of the law: RTI was designed to make government answer to citizens, not to make citizens answer to government. The rules await formal notification. Whether the government will explain its reasoning for them via RTI is an open question.