Centre to ensure proactive disclosure by govt depts under RTI

New Delhi, May 27, 2012 :  Concerned over non-adherence of mandatory proactive disclosure under the RTI Act, the Centre is working on a "time-bound plan" to ensure that all public
authorities adhere to the provisions of the transparency law.
Officials of the Department of Personnel and Training
(DoPT), which acts as a nodal agency for the implementation of
the Right to Information Act, said a directive in this regard
will be issued to all public authorities (commonly referred to
government departments mandated to give information).
The move assumes significance as the Central Information
Commission and civil society organisations complained to the
government about continuous non-compliance of mandatory
proactive disclosure provisions mentioned in the RTI Act even
after six years the law came into force.
Section 4 of the RTI Act makes it an obligation on every
public authority to maintain all its records duly catalogued
and indexed and publicise it in a manner and the form which
facilitates the right to information by citizens within 120
days after the Act comes into being.
The RTI Act was enacted by the Parliament in 2005.
"The DoPT is working on a time-bound plan to ensure that
all public authorities follow the provisions mentioned under
Section 4 of the RTI Act. A directive in this regard will soon
be issued to them," a DoPT official said.
Both the government and the transparency watchdog,
however, do not have updated details on the status of the
compliance of the Section 4 of the RTI Act by public
authorities.
In its latest annual report, the CIC has observed that in
course of hearing of various appeals or complaints that
although the RTI Act had been in place for six years, one of
the key element of the law -- Section 4 of the RTI Act -– was
not being implemented in letter and spirit.
"Although there are ministries or departments and public
authorities, which are relatively more transparent and open
than others, most of them do not conform to the matrix of
disclosure," the report has said.
The CIC has emphasised "urgent implementation of
directions of the Commission in respect of Section 4 of the
Act in letter and spirit so that 'information' is available to
citizens for 'taking' and the need to 'ask' for information is
minimal".
According to officials, the transparency watchdog could
not put in place a portal, as mentioned in its annual report
for 2010-11, for authorities to upload details of compliance
related to Section 4.
Recently, a Parliamentary committee has also asked the
government to ensure "proper implementation of the provisions
of Section 4 of the Act relating to proactive disclosures".
    "The Committee feels that quite a lot needs to be done in
so far as implementation of the provisions of Section 4(2) of
the RTI Act is concerned.
"The Committee, accordingly, recommends that the Ministry
should come out with a specific and time-bound programme where
under the various public authorities should examine threadbare
what all information available with them or generated in the
course of their functioning should be placed in public
domain," the panel has recommended.
According to Section 4(2), a public authority is mandated
to mention the particulars of its organisation, functions and
duties, the powers and duties of its officers and employees,
the procedure followed in the decision making process,
including channels of supervision and accountability and the
norms set by it for the discharge of its functions among
others.
Further, the panel has suggested to the DoPT to provide
for monitoring of the action taken by various public
authorities in compliance of the said provisions of the RTI
Act.
"The Committee further takes note of the suggestion made
in the study that e-Hearing of cases may be adopted for speedy
disposal," the Department Related Standing Committee on
Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice said in its
report.