Right to Information: User Guide

What type of Information does the Government have to proactively provide?

The Central Act not only requires public authorities to provide information upon request (see the remaining sections of this Guide for more), but section 4 also imposes a duty on public bodies to actively disclose, disseminate and publish, as widely as possible, information of general public interest even before it has been requested. This has a number of positive effects:

• It supports the push for open government by practically entrenching the principle that government information should be made public and accessible;
• It minimises the time, money and effort required by the public to access important but routine information;
• It helps people to understand better what information they can access and how to seek it;
• It reduces the number of requests that bureaucrats are required to process, thereby reducing the administrative burden on government of implementing access to information laws.

The Central Act has the most comprehensive proactive disclosure provisions of any RTI law in the country. At a basic level, the Act requires every public authority to routinely disclose information on such topics as its functions, decision-making norms, documents held, employee contacts, and budgets. It goes further though, and even requires regular disclosure of information about subsidy schemes (including details of beneficiaries) and the recipients of licenses, concessions and permits. Considering the amount of corruption in these areas, it is hoped that greater transparency will result in greater accountability.

Notably, the Central Act goes even further and specifically requires that it is the constant endeavour of public authorities to provide as much information as possible suo moto. The Central Act also demands that all information is disclosed in a manner and form which will make it most accessible to the public. This is essential - it should be as easy as possible for the citizens throughout the country to access information, whether they are in an urban centre or a rural village.

Under the Central Act, if the proactive disclosure requirements are not being complied with, the newly established Information Commissions have the power to actually order that public authorities comply with the relevant provisions of the Act. In practice, this means that a member of the public shall be able to directly complain to an Information Commission for such an order.

It is important to note here that most State Governments already have in place regulations which at least require government departments to abide by Citizen's Charters - many of which contain provisions which operate as a form of limited proactive disclosure. Citizen's Charters are intended to clarify the commitment that each Public Service Organisation makes to the public by setting out the standard, quality and time frame of service delivery, grievance redress mechanisms, transparency and accountability. At a minimum, Citizen's Charters are supposed to set out the mandate of the concerned Ministry/ Department/ Organisation, how you can get in touch with its officials, what to expect by way of services and how to seek a remedy if something goes wrong. The Charter's should be posted in the office's of each public body.

Please click on the link to the Central RTI Act to read the detailed provisions contained in the law. Please click on the link to CHRI's State RTI pages to find out more about relevant rules and implementation in your specific State.