This Office Memorandum addresses the incorrect practice of automatically transferring applications received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) simply because the Prime Minister or PMO is mentioned. It clarifies that according to Section 6(3) of the RTI Act, applications should be transferred to the public authority that holds the information or is more closely connected to the subject matter. The PMO’s role is to provide secretariat assistance, and the actual information relevant to a matter would typically reside with the concerned Ministry or Department. Therefore, Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) must carefully examine the subject of RTI applications and transfer them to the appropriate authority, rather than defaulting to the PMO. Ministries and Departments are urged to bring these directives to the attention of all CPIOs.
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No.F. 11/12/2008-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
North Block, New Delhi
Dated the 22nd April, 2008
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Transfer of applications under the RTI Act, 2005.
It has been brought to the notice of this Department that the Central Public Information Officers of some public authorities transfer the applications received under the Right to Information Act, 2005 to the Prime Minister’s Office in a routine manner when there is just a mention of the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister’s Office in the application. According to sub-section (3) of section 6 of the RTI Act, if an application is received by a public authority seeking an information which is held by another public authority or which is more closely connected with the subject matter relating to another public authority, the public authority receiving the application should transfer the application to the concerned public authority. It may be pointed out here that the Prime Minister’s Office has been assigned the work of providing secretariat assistance to the Prime Minister. After a decision is taken in a matter, the Ministry/Department to which the matter concerns takes further action regarding issue of orders etc. Naturally, the information in such cases would be available with the concerned Ministry/Department and not the PMO. The CPIO receiving the application should carefully see the subject matter in the RTI application and transfer it, if need be, to the concerned public authority and not to the PMO simply because the applicant has made a reference to the PM or PMO.
2. All the Ministries/Departments etc. are requested to bring the contents of this OM to the notice of all the Central Public Information Officers
( K. G. Verma )
Director
Tel. 23092158
Copy to:
- 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/State Information Commissions
- Staff Selection Commission, CGO Complex, New Delhi
- Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi
- All Officers/Desks/Sections, Department of Personnel & Training and Department of Pension & Pensions Welfare