Government has issued an office memorandum to all public authorities mandating the proactive disclosure of the names, designations, and other particulars of Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) and First Appellate Authorities (FAAs). This directive, stemming from the Right to Information Act, 2005, aims to enhance transparency by making information readily available and reducing the need for individual RTI applications. The memorandum specifically requests that public authorities update their websites with the details of all designated officers from January 1, 2015, onwards and maintain this information consistently. This measure is crucial because a lack of complete historical data on previous CPIOs and FAAs has been causing difficulties for the Central Information Commission in adjudicating appeals, leading to delays. By ensuring that past and present officer details are accessible, the process for handling second appeals will be smoother, allowing for reasonable opportunities for hearing.
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F.No.1/2/2016-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
North Block, New Delhi
Dated the $17^{\text {th }}$ August, 2016
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject:- Placing details of current / earlier CPIOs / FAAs on the websites of Public Authorities -regarding.
Sub-section 4(1) (b) of the RTI Act, 2005 lays down the items of information which should be disclosed by Public Authorities on proactive basis. Section 4(2) and section 4(3) prescribe the method of dissemination of this information. The purpose of suo motu disclosures under section 4 is to place a large amount of information in public domain on a proactive basis to make the functioning of the Public Authorities more transparent and also to reduce the need for filing individual RTI applications.
2. In order to enhance quality and quantity of information disclosed by public authorities on proactive basis, Government issued O.M.s dated 15.04.2013, 21.10.2014 and 29.06.2015 recommending thereby more items to be disclosed by public authorities on proactive basis and get the proactive disclosure audited.
3. One of the items to be disclosed proactively by the public authorities under Section 4(1)(b) pertains to the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers and its updation on yearly basis. It has been observed that in some of the public authorities, there arefrequent changes at the level of the Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) and First Appellate Authorities (FAAs). During the update of the names and designations of the CPIOs / FAAs, the public authorities remove the names and designations of the earlier ones from their website. In the absence of complete details (name and designation etc.) of the CPIO concerned at the relevant time, the Central Information Commission, while adjudicating second appeals faces difficulty in proceeding with the matter to afford reasonable opportunity of hearing to CPIO, which delays disposal of the cases.
- In order to avoid any hardship to CPIOs/FAAs, all the Public Authorities are requested to put on their website the details of all such officers designated during different periods, beginning from 1st January, 2015 till date and keep it updating from time to time.
(Gayatri Mishra)
Director
Tele 2309 2755
- All the Ministries/Departments of the Government of India.
- Union Public Service Commission, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Cabinet Secretariat, Central Vigilance Commission, President’s Secretariat, Vice-President’s Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office, Planning Commission, Election Commission.
- Central Information Commission.
- Staff Selection Commission, CGO Complex, New Delhi O/o the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg