An activist in Tamil Nadu was, in a reply to his RTI query, asked to prove his Indian citizenship. Shocked to know the response, the activist has filed a complaint with the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) against the Public Information Officer (PIO) who filed the response. 

According to reports, activist Sureshkumar Jeyakumar had filed a Right To Information (RTI) application in May in which he sought details on a compound wall that was broken at Raja Serfoji Government College in Thanjavur district. The activist had also sought details on the complaints he moved against the trespassers breaching the compound wall. He also had sought to divulge the action that was taken to fix the broken wall. 

However, in response, Sureshkumar was asked to produce his proof that he is an Indian citizen to obtain the details he had asked for in his application. On June 30, Senthamilselvi, the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the government college had responded to Sureshkumar's application and she said, "As per the RTI Act 2005, the information can be disclosed only to Indians. So, we request you to make submissions to prove your nationality." 

Senthamilselvi, who is also the principal of the college, had asked the activist to disclose either an Aadhaar card, Passport, and Voter ID card as proof of his citizenship. After receiving a shocking response, Sureshkumar had on Monday filed a complaint with the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission against the PIO, who given a reply asking to prove his citizenship. 

Tamil Nadu State Information Commissioner Muthuraj has said that an inquiry will be carried out into the matter and based on the inquiry, action will be taken. Muthuraj has said that the response is a very rare instance. According to reports, Sureshkumar had filed the RTI application in May over a broken compound wall of the Raja Serfoji Government College. The wall was bordering his residence at Elisa Nagar. The public works department had fixed the wall earlier two times when it was broken.

However, the wall had broken for the third time and Sureshkumar had filed the RTI seeking details on what action the college had taken against the trespassers and on the efforts taken on fixing the walls. He stated that the broken compound wall gives access to the college grounds and the area is now being used to dump the garbage and it has been causing health issues to the people in the area. 

The activist had asked the details of the efforts taken to fix the wall through RTI for which he was asked to prove that he is an Indian citizen. The response had sparked criticisms from fellow activists who slammed the response from the PIO. It must be noted that under section 6(2) of the Right To Information Act, RTI applicants are not required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details unless it is necessary for contacting the applicant.