Implementation of RTI Act

04 MAR 2020

The Central Government is fully committed to implement the Right to Information (RTI) Act in respect of public authorities under it. Each State Government is responsible for implementation of the Right to Information Act in respect of the public authorities in the State concerned.

In respect of the Central Information Commissions, the appointment process has been conducted duly as and when vacancies were required to be filled up and has not been at preliminary stage.

Also check: DoPT – Notification regarding RTI Rules 2019

The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its Order dated 16.12.2019 in M.A. No. 1979 of 2019 in WP (C) No. 436 of 2018: Ms Anjali Bhardwaj & Others Vs. Union of India and Others pertaining to fill up the vacancies in Central Information Commissions, has inter-alia directed that the Government complete the process of appointment in 3 months.

The process has reached an advanced stage for appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner and one Information Commission in Central Information Commission.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

MACP ON PROMOTIONAL HIERARCHY – MACP Supreme Court Order – Heard & Reserved – Order dated 23 Jan 2020

PIB

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DoPT Orders 2019

MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
(Department of Personnel and Training)

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 24th October, 2019

G.S.R. 810(E).– In exercise of the powers conferred by clauses (ca) and (cb) of sub-section (2) of section 27 of Right to Information Act, 2005 (22 of 2005), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:-

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement.- (1) These rules may be called The Right to Information (Term of Office, Salaries, Allowances and Other Terms and Conditions of Service of Chief Information Commissioner,
Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission, State Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioners in the State Information Commission) Rules, 2019.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Get More: Latest DoPT Orders 2019

CHAPTER II

2. Definitions.- (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, –

(a) “Act” means the Right to Information Act, 2005 (22 of 2005);
(b) “Central Information Commission” shall have the same meaning assigned to it under clause (b) of section 2 of the Act ;
(c) “Chief Information Commissioner” and “Information Commissioner” shall have the same meaning assigned to it under clause (d) of section 2 of the Act;
(d) “State Chief Information Commissioner” and “State Information Commissioner” shall have the same meaning assigned to it under clause (l) of section 2 of the Act;
(e) “State Information Commission” shall have the same meaning assigned to it under clause (k) of section 2 of the Act.
(2) The words and expressions used and not defined under these rules, but defined in the Act shall have the same meaning as respectively assigned to them in the Act.

CHAPTER III

TERM OF OFFICE, SALARIES, ALLOWANCES AND OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION COMMISSIONER AND INFORMATION COMMISSIONER IN THE CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION

3. Term of office.- The Chief Information Commissioner, or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall hold office for a period of three years from the date on which he enters upon his office.

4. Retirement from parent service on appointment.- The Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, who on the date of his appointment to the Commission, was in the service of the Central or a State Government, shall be deemed to have retired from such service with effect from the date of his appointment as Chief Information Commissioner or an Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission.

5. Pay.- (1) The Chief Information Commissioner shall receive a pay of Rs. 2,50,000 (Rupees two lakh and fifty thousand)(fixed) per mensem.
(2) An Information Commissioner shall receive a pay of Rs. 2,25,000 (Rupees two lakh and twenty five thousand) (fixed) per mensem.
(3) In case the Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, at the time of his appointment is, in receipt of any pension, the pay of such Chief Information Commissioner or
Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be reduced by the amount of that pension including any portion of pension which was commuted and pension equivalent of other forms of retirement benefits
excluding pension equivalent of retirement gratuity;
(4) In case the Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, at the time of his appointment, is in receipt of retirement benefits in respect of any previous service rendered in
Corporation established by or under any Central Act or State Act or a Government company owned or controlled by the Central Government or the State Government, his pay in respect of the service as the Chief
Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be reduced by the amount of pension equivalent to the retirement benefits.

6. Dearness Allowance. – The Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be entitled to draw dearness allowance at the rate admissible to an officer holding a post
carrying the same pay in the Central Government, as revised from time to time.

7. Leave.- (1) The Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be entitled to rights of leave as per admissibility to an officer holding a post carrying the same pay in the
Central Government, as revised from time to time.
(2) In case the Chief Information Commissioner, the competent authority to sanction the leave shall be the President of India and in case of the Information Commissioners, the Chief Information Commissioner shall
be the competent authority.

8. Cash Payment in lieu of unutilised Earned Leave.- The Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be entitled to encashment of fifty per cent. of earned leave to his credit at the time of completion of tenure:

Provided that for a Chief Information Commissioner or an Information Commissioner, as the case may be, who had retired from the service of the Central or a State Government prior to appointment as a Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioner, as the case may be, the aggregate period for which the encashment of unutilised earned leave shall be entitled shall be subject to a maximum period as per admissibility to an officer holding a post carrying the same pay in the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, as revised from time to time.

9. Medical Facilities.- The Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be entitled to medical treatment and Hospital facilities as provided in the Central Government Health Scheme and at places where the Central Government Health Scheme is not in operation, the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioner shall be entitled to medical facilities as provided in the Central Service (Medical Attendance) Rules, 1944.

10. Accommodation.- (1) The Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be eligible subject to availability, to the use of official residence from the general pool accommodation of the type as admissible to an officer holding a post carrying the same pay in the Central Government on the payment of the license fee at the rates prescribed by Central Government from time to time.
(2) Where Chief Information Commissioner or an Information Commissioner is not provided with or does not avail himself of the general pool accommodation referred to in sub-rule (1), he may be paid House Rent Allowance at the rate admissible to an officer holding a post carrying the same pay in the Central Government.

11. Leave Travel Concession, Travelling Allowance, Daily Allowance.- The Chief Information Commissioner or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall be entitled to leave travel concession, travelling allowance and daily allowance as admissible to an officer holding a post carrying the same pay in the Central Government as far as may be, apply to the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioner, as the case may be.

Source: DoPT

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Government is fully committed to transparency and accountability; No question of decreasing autonomy of Information Commissions: Dr. Jitendra Singh

22 JUL 2019

Lok Sabha passed the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 today. In this amendment, it is proposed to amend the Right to Information Act, 2005 so as to provide that the term of office of, and the salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of, the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners and the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners, shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

Participating in the debate on the Bill, Union Minister of Statefor Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that this Government is fully committed to transparency and accountability. Following this principle, the Government has encouraged suo motu dissemination of maximum information by Government Departments in order to reduce number of RTIs.

In addition to this, the Minister said that the Government is focussing on grievance redressal through citizen involvement. This has strengthened the underlying principle of RTI and has consistently reduced the pendency of RTI applications in the last 5 years, the Minister informed the House.

Assuring the members that the Government is not misusing its powers to frame rules regarding State Information Commissions, Shri Singh said that according to the original RTI act of 2005, the power of framing rules in respect of Information Commissions does not fall under the purview of either the Union or the State or the Concurrent lists. Hence, framing rules, even for the State Information Commissions, falls under the Residuary powers of the Union Government, the Minister said.

Replying on the issue of comparison of service conditions of Information Commissions and Election Commissions, Shri Singh said that the Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions are statutory bodies established under the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005. Therefore, the mandate of Election Commission of India and Central and State Information Commissions are different. Hence, their status and service conditions need to be rationalised accordingly.Further, the Minister said that there has been no change in the section of the original act dealing with the appointment of Information Commissioners. Thus, the question of decreasing autonomy of the Information Commissions does not arise, the Minister added.

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No.11/20/2014-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi
Dated: 23rd August, 2016

To
The Head of All State ATIs (As per list attached)

Subject: Success Stories of the Right to Information Act, 2005 – regarding

Sir / Madam,

I am directed to say that RTI Act has been instrumental in ensuring greater and more effective access to information to all citizens of the country, especially the marginalized sections of the society. On the occasion of completion of more than 10 years of implementation of RTI Act, 2005, the Central Information Commission, New Delhi is going to hold Annual Convention in October, 2016 to mark its contribution under the Right to Information Act, 2005. To mark this event, the Commission proposes to bring out a volume titled “Success Stories of the Right to
Information Act, 2005”, which would be released for public by the Hon’ble Prime Minister during the Annual Convention. Central Information Commission has entrusted the work of compilation / preparation of Success Stories volume to M/s  YASHDA.

2. In this regard, the State ATIs are requested to forward all the documented Success Stories maintained by their Institute/Academy to YASHADA at the earliest to enable them to compile a volume titled “Success Stories of the Right to Information Act, 2005”. The State ATIs are also requested to participate in the National Workshop to be held in last week of August, 2016 in YASHADA.

Yours faithfully,
(Gayatri Mishra)
Director (IR)

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Dopt instructed to all Ministries/Departments as per the suggestions given by the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committe, to avoid duplicity of requests from the applicants often, upload the requests and the replies can be published on the websites of the Departments.

G.I, Dept. of Per. & Trg., O.M.F.No.1/1/2013-IR, dated 9.7.2015

Subject: 76th Report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice Recommendation regarding suo-motu disclosure under Section 4 of justify to Information Act, 2005.

Reference is invited to this Department’s Office Memorandum No.1/6/2011-IR, dated the 15th April,2013 wherein all Ministries / Departments were advised to appoint a senior officer not below the rank of a Joint Secretary and not below the rank of Additional HoD in case of attached offices for ensuring compliance with the proactive disclosure guidelines. Subsequently, vide O.M.No.1/1/20-13~IR dated 21st October,2014, all Ministries / Departments were requested to take action to upload the replies to RTI applications and first appeals on their respective websites. in this context, the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice has, in Para 4.40 of its 76th Report, inter-alia made the following observation / recommendations:

“The direction given by DoPT in their guidelines for implementation of Section 4 of the RTI Act which required appointment of a Joint Secretary rank officer as the Nodal Officer should be followed in letter and spirit. The Committee feels that all Ministries/ Departments/ Organisations themselves must encourage suo-motu disclosure of relevant information. The Committee suggests the publishing of RTI requests and their replies on the websites of the Departments so that duplicity of requests is avoided. All Departments must make an analysis of information which is sought most often from applicants and provide it on their website as suo-motu disclosure.”

The above mentioned recommendations of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice are hereby brought to the notice of all Ministries / Departments and Public Authorities for strict compliance.

The contents of this O.M. may also be brought to the notice of Attached Subordinate Offices and Public Sector Undertakings for necessary compliance.

Click to view the order

Authority: www.persmin. gov.in

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The Government has constituted a committee consisting of representatives of Department of Personnel & Training, Central Information Commission, Department of Posts and Office of Controller of Accounts (Department of Personnel & Training) to examine whether postal stamps can be used for payment of RTI fees under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The Committee has given its report on 24.02.2015. The Committee has observed that the use of postage stamps as mode of payment for RTI fee/costs is neither legally feasible nor feasible from the accounting point of view. Moreover, it would not be in line with the Government initiatives towards Digital India. Hence, the Committee has recommended that postage stamps may not be used as mode of payment for RTI fee/costs. The report of the Committee has been accepted by the competent authority.

The Central Government has already launched RTI Online portal for online filing of RTI applications, including online payment of RTI fee/costs. Moreover, the facility of eIPO (electronic India Postal Order) has been launched for purchase of IPOs electronically by online payment.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in Prime Minister’s office Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri Dhananjay Mahadik, Shri Satav Rajeev, Dr. Heena Vijaykumar Gavit and Shri Mohite Patil Vijayasinh Shankarrao in the Lok Sabha today

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The Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Improving Transparency and Accountability in Government through Effective Implementation of the Right to Information Act” was launched in August 2010. The Goal of the Scheme was to contribute towards more accountable and transparent government. The Purpose of the Scheme was effective implementation of the RTI Act. The scheme aimed to achieve the following Outputs:

(a)RTI requests are filed by public with ease. The components designed to
achieve this were:

i. Awareness Generation through Mass media campaign; organisation of workshops, Publication of Guide books etc and innovative awareness generation programmes

ii. Simplification of processes for filing of RTI Requests and Appeals to central Government Authorities which included setting up of a call centre and portal for filing of RTI requests in GOI offices.

iii. Setting up of an institutional mechanism for collaborative working with CSOs and Media and included consultation meetings of the National RTI Committee, RTI Fellowships, etc.

(b) Improvement in quality and speed of disposal of RTI requests and appeals. The components designed to achieve this were:

i. Capacity building of PIOs and AAs through training of CPIOs, SPIOs and AAs, online certificate course on RTI, Knowledge management, etc

ii. Streamlined Processes for receipt, disposal and Monitoring of RTI Requests/Appeals by setting up of RTI Cells in Central Public Authorities.

iii. Improved Record Management.

(c) Effective Information Commissions to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act through capacity building of Central/State Information Commissioners

Source: http://ccis.nic.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/PlanScheme.pdf]

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No.1/44/2009-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi
Dated the 13th February, 2014

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject :- Electronic Indian Postal Order – extension of service to Indian Citizens residing in India.

In continuation to this Department’s OM. of even number dated 22/03/2013, it is intimated that Department of Posts has extended the “eIPO” (electronic Indian Postal Order) service to Indian citizens residing in India also w.e.f. 13.02.2014, for purchasing Indian Postal Order electronically by paying a fee online through e-Post Office Portal i.e. http://www.epostoffice.gov.in. It can also be accessed through India Post website www.indiapost.gov.in

2. It is reiterated that:
i) This facility has been provided for Indian citizens to facilitate them to seek information from the Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) under the RTI Act. 2005. Debit or Credit Cards of any Bank powered by Visa / Master can be used to purchase e-IPO.

ii) The user needs to get registered at the website. He has to select the Ministry / Department from whom he desires to seek the information under the RTI Act and the elPO so generated can be used to seek information from that Ministry / Department only. A printout of the elPO is required to be attached with the RTI application. If the RTI application is being flied electronically, elPO is required to be attached as an attachment.

iii) This facility is only for purchasing an Indian Postal Order electronically. All the requirements for filing an RTI application as well as other provisions regarding eligibility, time limit, exemptions etc. will continue to apply.

3. An eIPO so generated must be used only once with an RTI application. To check any multiple use of the same elPO, the Public Authority shall maintain a record of the elPOs so received. In case of any doubt, the details of elPO can be verified from the above mentioned site / portal of India Post.

sd/-
(Sandeep Jain)
Director(IR)

Source: www.persmin.gov.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/1_44_2009-IR-13022014.pdf]

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No. 1/31/2013-IR

Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi,
Dated the 8th January, 2014

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Order dated 20.11.2013 of the High Court of Kolkata in Writ Petition No 33290 of 2013 in the case of Mr Avishek Goenka Vs Union of India regarding personal details of RTI applicants circulation of.

In compliance of the directions of the Hon’ble High Court of Kolkata in its said order, a copy of the judgement (order) is enclosed here with for appropriate action.

2. This may be brought to the notice of all concerned.

sd/-
(Sandeep Jain)
Director

Source: www.persmin.gov.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/1_31_2013-IR.pdf]

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No 11/18/2013-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions
Department of Personnel Training

North Block, New Delhi-110001
Dated 10th December, 2013

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Sub: Implementation of suo motu disclosure under Section 4 of RTI Act, 2005 – Compliance of Section 4 of the RTI Act, 2005.

Attention is invited to this Department’s O.M. of even no. dated 15.4.2013 on the subject mentioned above.

2. In that O.M., it was mentioned that each Ministry/Public Authority shall ensure that the guidelines for suo motu disclosure under RTI are fully operationalised within a period of 6 months from the date of their issuance i.e. 15.04.2013. It was also requested that the Action Taken Report on the compliance of guidelines should be sent, alongwith the URL link, to the DoPT and the Central Information Commission soon after the expiry of the initial period of the 6 months. It has been noticed that most of the Ministries/Departments/Public Authorities have not sent the compliance report/Action Taken Report to this Department and Central Information Commission.

3. It is once again requested that the guidelines mentioned in O.M. dated 15.4.2013 be complied with at the earliest and compliance report sent to this Department and Central Information Commission, immediately.

sd/-
(Sandeep Jain)
Director (IR)

Source: www.persmin.nic.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/11_18_2013-IR-10122013.pdf]

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