Latest DoPT Orders 2022

No. 1/6/2011 -IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions
Department of Personnel Training

North Block, New Delhi – 110001
Dated 14th September, 2022

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Sub: Guidelines on implementation of suomotu disclosure under Section 4 of RTI Act, 2005 – Compliance reg.

The undersigned is directed to invite attention to this Department’s O.M. of even number dated 15.04.2013, further reiterated on 07.11.2019, regarding implementation of guidelines contained therein for Suo Motu Disclosure under section 4 of RTI Act 2005 and further conducting their third party audit by a respective Govt. Training Institute.

2. Para 4.4 of the aforesaid guidelines dated 07.11.2019 provides that each Ministry/ Public Authority should get its proactive disclosure package audited by third party every year. The audit should cover compliance with the proactive disclosure guidelines as well as adequacy of the items included in the package. The audit should examine whether there are any other types of information which could be proactively disclosed. Such audit should be done annually and should be communicated to the Central Information Commission annually through publication on their own websites. Further, the task of undertaking transparency audits may be given to the respective Training Institutes under each Ministry/ Department/ Public Authority and across the States and Union Territories. However, in cases where no training institute exists under the Ministries/ Departments/ Public Authorities the task of undertaking transparency audits may be given to any Government Training Institute.

3. In reference to Annual Report of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for the year 2020-21, it has been observed that out of 2275 Public Authorities registered with CIC, only 754 of them have been reported to get their proactive disclosure audited by a Govt. Training Institute which has been viewed seriously by the Govt. This Issue has come to the notice of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee which raised concern over the poor implementation of the Third Party Audit of the suomotu disclosure by Public Authorities (PAs).

4. Further, CIC vide its D.O. letters No. 6/1/2013/ JS(LAW)/ CIC-V/ 2022/ 1316 dated 28.07.2022 and No. 6/1/2013/JS(LAW)/CIC-V/2022 dated 01.09.2022 has requested all the Ministries/ Departments to take the necessary steps and nominate the Training Institute for conducting transparency audit of their suo motu disclosure under Section 4 of RTI Act. The Commission has also informed timelines for conducting third party audit exercise for the year 2021-22 as per the following:

• (i) The last date for submitting self appraisal form by Public Authorities on CIC’s portal is 15.09.2022.
• (ii) The last date for submitting audited report by training institutes on CIC’s portal is 27.09.2022.
• (iii) The last date for submitting the recommendations/ comments by Deputy Registrars of the Commission is 10.10.2022.

5. In view of the above, it is desired that all the Ministries/ Departments and the PAs under their administrative control, may take immediate appropriate action with regard to the aforesaid DO letters of CIC dated 28.07.2022 and 01.09.2022 and furnish the requisite details as well as adhere to the timelines given therein.

6. Further, Ministries/Departments, vide above referred OM of DoPT dated 07.11. 2019 [accessible at https://dopt.gov.in – Notifications – OMs & Orders – RTI] were also directed to mandatorily include details about compliance with proactive disclosure guidelines under a separate Chapter regarding the implementation of the RTI Act by them, in their Annual Report submitted to the Parliament. It has been observed that very few Ministries/ Departments are adhering to these guidelines. In view of the above, Ministries/ Departments are again directed to follow the above referred guidelines in letter and spirit.

(Varsha Sinha)
Joint Secretary

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Guidelines of suo motu disclosure under Section 4 of RTI Act, 2005

No. 1/6/2011-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi
Dated the 7th November, 2019

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Sub: Implementation of suo motu disclosure under Section 4 of Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 – Issue of guidelines regarding

The suo motu disclosure of information to public is mandated under Section 4 (2) of the RTI Act, 2005, so that the public have to resort minimally to the use of this Act to obtain information. Section 4(1)(b) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 lays down the information which should be disclosed by Public Authorities on a suo motu or proactive basis. Section 4(3) prescribes for wide dissemination of every information, in such form and manner which is easily accessible to the public.

Also check: Latest DoPT Orders 2019

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’s O.M. of even number dated 15th April, 2013 and to reiterate the guidelines therein (Copy enclosed), duly incorporating a slight revision to Para 4.4 of the above guidelines allowing for third party audit by any Government Training Institute, in cases where no Training Institute exists under the concerned Ministry/Department/Public Authority.

Central Government Ministries/Departments are advised to undertake suo motu disclosure based on these guidelines, in compliance to Sections 4(1)(b) read with Section 4(2), 4(3) and 4(4) of the RTl Act, 2005

The enclosed guidelines may be brought to the notice of all Public Authorities under the Ministry / Department including those in their Attached Offices, Subordinate Offices, Constitutional Bodies, Statutory Bodies, Autonomous Organizations and Public Sector Undertakings.

(Varsha Sinha)
Director

Source: DoPT

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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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Minister for State for Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions replied recently in the Parliament that DOPT has been repeatedly requesting all States, UTs and Central Government Departments to accept self-attested documents / Self-Certification and to abolish affidavits

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

07-May-2015 18:52 IST

Self-Attested Documents

The Government has received representations/grievances/complaints from general public regarding non-acceptance of self-attested documents by the officials. Two references of public grievances were received on non-acceptance of self-certification by different authorities. A number of applications under RTI Act, 2005 seeking clarification on the subject have also been received.

Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances has been requesting States / UTs and Central Ministries to adopt self-certification and for abolition of affidavits and several communications have been sent in this regard.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question by Dr. R.Lakshmanan in the Rajya Sabha today.

Source: PIB

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New Delhi: Wives of government servants have a “right” to know salary particulars of their husbands and these details should also be made public by their offices as mandated under suo-moto disclosure clause of the RTI Act, the Central information Commission has held.

Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu said every spouse has a right to information about the salary particulars of the other especially for the purpose of maintenance.

“More so, wife has a right to know the salary particulars of the husband, who is an employee of the public authority,” he said.

The commissioner further said that the details about a government employee’s salary is no third party information and these have to be voluntarily disclosed under Section 4(1)(b)(x) of the RTI Act.

He said the salary paid to the public authority is sourced from the tax paid by the people in general and it has to be disclosed mandatorily under the RTI section.

“The information about the salary of employee or an officer of the same public authority cannot be considered as a third party information… Public authorities cannot reject such RTI applications about salary under the pretext of the third party information,” he held.

Acharyulu warned the Home Department of Delhi government that such denial of information will be wrongful and could incur penalty. The warning was in context of an application filed by Jyoti Seherawat seeking salary slip of her husband who is employed at the Home (General) department.

The information was denied as her husband gave in written to the department that such an information should not be provided to anyone.

Source : PTI

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No.11/2/2013-IR (Pt.)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi,
Dated the 14th August 2013

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Disclosure of personal information under the RTI Act, 2005.

The Central Information Commission in one of its decisions (copy enclosed) has held that information about the complaints made against an officer of the Government and any possible action the authorities might have taken on those complaints, qualities as personal information within the meaning of provision of section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act, 2005.

2. The Central Information Commission while deciding the said case has cited the decision of Supreme Court of India in the matter of Girish R. Deshpande vs. CIC and others (SLP (C) no. 27734/2012) in which it was held as under:-

“The performance of an employee/Officer in an organisation is primarily a matter between the employee and the employer and normally those aspects are governed by the service rules which fall under the expression personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest. On the other hand, the disclosure of which could cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of that individual.” The Supreme Court further held that such information could be disclosed only if it would serve a larger public interest.

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

End: As above.

sd/-
(Manoj Joshi)
Joint Secretary (AT&A)

Source: www.persmin.nic.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/11_2_2013-IR-Pt.-14082013.pdf]

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Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Online Application of RTI

Government of India has started a RTI online web portal whereby Right to Information (RTI) applications can be filed online by Indian citizens, including those who are living abroad. The detailed procedure in filing of on-line RTI applications is as under:-

An Indian citizen can file RTI application online through RTI online web-portal, having url www.rtionline.gov.in. The prescribed fee for RTI application can also be paid online through a payment gateway of State Bank of India by way of internet banking of State Bank of India and its associate banks and by using debit/credit cards of Master/Visa. This facility at present is available only for 37 Ministries/Departments of Government of India.

This was stated by Shri V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office in written reply to a question by Dr. Janardhan Waghmare and Sh.N.K.Singh today.

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Government of India
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
(RTI Section)

NO. I-34014/234/2013-RTI

Dated the 2nd August, 2013

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:    Mode of payment of fee for seeking information under RTI Act, 2005 from M/o Road Transport and Highways — clarification regarding.

The undersigned has been directed to say that the Central Information Commission vide its order dt. 10.07.2013 (Case NO. CIC/SS/C/2012/000799) in the 2nd appeal filed by Shri Subhash Chandra Agrawal has directed this Ministry to clarify the issue regarding payment of fee by IPOs/DDs/Bankers’ cheque and the authority in whose favour these instruments of payment should be drawn, The operative portion of CIC order dated 101.13 is as follows:-

“7. The relevant rule with regard to the mode of payment of fees as per modification dated 31.7,12 issued by Central Government as per Section 27 of the RTI Act is being reproduced as under:-

6. Mode of Payment of Fee- Under these, rules may be paid in any of the following manner, namely:-

a)    in cash……
b)    by demand draft or bankers’ cheque or Indian Postal Order payable to the Accounts Officer of the Public Authority; or
c)    by electronic means    ….

Decision:

The mode of payment as per the said rule is very clear, however, due to different account officer/accounts etc. issue of non-acceptance has arisen. The Commission observes that such issue is of non-acceptance can lead to delay in furnishing a reply to the applicant and that uniformity in this regard would further ease the process under RTI Act for the applicant’s. The Commission is of the view that steps shall be taken by the respondent public authority to clarify this issue for avoiding delay or account of non-acceptance of postal-order/s.”

2. The matter has been considered in consultation with the Office of the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, M/o Road Transport & Highways Keeping in view the orders issued vide DoPT’s OM NO. F.N/9/2008-IR dt. 05.12.2008 read with the above orders of the CIC and also the advice of the Office of the Principal CCA, it is clarified as follows:-

i)  As per note 2 below rule 18 of Central Govt, Account Receipts and Payments Rules, such instruments being accepted by departmental officer not having cheque drawing powers, should be drawn in favour (indicating official designation) of the concerned Pay and Accounts Officers. However, when cheques or bank drafts are received in the name of departmental office’s under any Act or rule or otherwise, these may be endorsed by them for payment to their respective Pay and Accounts Officers.

ii) In the light of the above, such demand drafts/bankers cheques IPOs for the payment of fee for seeking information under the Right to Information Act can be drawn by the information seekers in favour of Pay and Accounts Officer(Sectt), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways or Accounts Officer, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

Sd/-
(V.Krishnaswamy)
Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India

Source: http://morth.nic.in/showfile.asp?lid=1051

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

02-August-2013 14:41 IST

The Union Cabinet has approved introduction of a Bill in the coming session of the Parliament to amend the Right to Information Act, 2005, to exclude the political parties from the definition of Public authority for the purpose of the Act.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) in its decision dated 03.06.2013, has held that the political parties, namely, AICC/INC, BJP, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, and BSP are public authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. While deciding that the said political parties are public authorities, the CIC has relied mainly on the grounds that there is substantial (indirect) financing of political parties by the Central Government and they perform public duty.

The political parties are registered with the Election Commission under the provisions of section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Under this section any small group of persons, if they so desire, can be registered as a political party by making a simple declaration under sub-section (5) of section 29A.

With reference to the political parties, detailed provisions exist in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 which provides for dissemination of information relating to political parties, candidates and donations. The said Act, inter alia, provides for –

•    Registration with the Election Commission of associations and bodies as political parties (section 29A)
•    Political parties entitled to accept contribution (section 29B)
•    Declaration of donation received by the political parties (section 29C)
•    Declaration of assets and liabilities (section 75A)
•    Account of election expenses and maximum thereof (section 77)
•    Lodging of account with the district election officer (section 78)
•    Penalty for filing false affidavit etc. (section 125A)

The above provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 indicate that there are sufficient provisions in the Act to deal with each and every aspect of financing, its declaration and punishment for filing false affidavit and all such information is made available to the public through the website of the Election Commission.

Under section 13A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the political parties claiming exemption from tax are required to file their return of income before the due date before the tax authorities along with audited accounts; and form 24A prescribed under section 29C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 read with Rule 85B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 declaring the list of persons making donations to the political parties exceeding 20,000/- rupees.

As per section 138 of the Income-tax Act, any information with the Income-tax Department would be ordinarily held confidential, but can be made public, if in the judgment of the Commissioner of Income-tax, it serves public purpose.

Under section 10A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for failure to lodge the account of election expenses as per the requirement of law, the defaulting candidate may be disqualified by the Election Commission for three years from the date of the order of disqualification.

Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, provides that each political party shall submit report to the Election Commission (before filing its income-tax return) regarding all contributions in excess of 20000/- rupees received by it in a financial year and failure to submit this report will deprive them of the tax benefit. Further, the candidates are required to file affidavit along with their nomination papers giving the annual income of the candidate and filing of false affidavit attract punishment for furnishing wrong information.
The RTI Act was enacted to provide for an effective framework for effectuating the right of information recognised under Article 19 of the Constitution. The RTI Act was enacted to ensure greater and more effective access to information by making the Freedom of Information Act, 2002 more progressive, participatory and meaningful.

The definition of public authority given in clause (h) of section 2 of the RTI Act is well defined to include only such authority or body constituted by or under the Constitution or by any law made by Parliament which is substantially financed directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government. The political parties do not fall within the parameters of the definition of public authority given in the RTI Act, as they are only registered and recognised under the RP Act, 1951.

Source : PIB News

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1/3/2013-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
IR Division

North Block, New Delhi-110001
Dated: 14.5.2013

Subject: Publishing of Compendium of Best Practices on RTI

The Department of Personnel and Training, Govt. of India proposes to publish a compendium of best practices on RTI being adopted by Public Authorities all over the country. Write ups are invited from the Indian Citizens about the best practices on RTI being adopted by Public Authorities all over the country. The best 20 write-ups would be selected for inclusion in the compendium. The individuals whose write ups are selected for inclusion In the compendium would be rewarded with a lumpsum amount of Rs. 25000 each.

2. The format for the write-Ups would be as follows:
1) Name of the Public Authority, whose practice is being considered in the write up.

2) Need felt/problem faced by the Public Authority leading to adoption of such practice.

3) Details of the said practice, including its scope, financial implications, and deployment of resources such as manpower, infrastructure, etc.

4) Lessons learnt by the Public Authority during implementation of the said practice.

5) Positive outcome of such practice in the implementation of the RTI Act.

6) Scope of its replication in other Public Authorities.

3. The write-ups should be of about 5000 words, neatly typed in 1.5 linespace and 14 size font. All documents in support of the best practice should be attached separately. The complete name and address including telephone and email id of the individual submitting the write-up should be mentioned. Handwritten write-ups would not be considered. Two copies of the write-ups should be submitted to the Deputy Secretary(IR), Department of Personnel and Training, North Block, New Delhi-110001 by 28th June, 2013 through post.

4. The individuals whose write ups would be selected could be asked by the department to resubmit the same after making desired changes, if any.

sd/-
(Sarita Nair)
Under Secretary to the Govt of India

Source: www.persmin.nic.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/1_3_2013-IR-14052013.pdf]

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