Obligations of Public Authorities

Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) in India lays down specific obligations for public authorities to promote transparency and accountability in their working. The provisions outlined in the Act are designed to facilitate easy access to information for the citizens.

Section 4: Obligations of Public Authorities

• Maintain Records:

Every public authority is required to maintain all its records duly cataloged and indexed in a manner and form which facilitates the right to information under this Act. This includes ensuring that all records are computerized and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated.

Publish Certain Information:

Public authorities must publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act, the following information:

• The particulars of its organization, functions, and duties;
• The powers and duties of its officers and employees;
• The procedure followed in the decision-making process, including channels of supervision and accountability;
• The norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;
• The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals, and records held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions;
• A statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control;
• The particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof;
• A statement of the boards, councils, committees, and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees, and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible to the public;
• A directory of its officers and employees;
• The monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;
• The budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures, and reports on disbursements made;
• The manner of execution of subsidy programs, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programs;
• Particulars of recipients of concessions, permits, or authorizations granted by it;
• Details in respect of the information available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;
• The particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use;
• The names, designations, and other particulars of the Public Information Officers;
• Such other information as may be prescribed.

Proactively Publish Information:

Public authorities are required to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect the public, to make the process more transparent.

Disseminate Information Widely:

They must disseminate information widely in any form, including the internet, so that the public has minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.

Promote Public Awareness:

Authorities are tasked with providing as much information suo moto to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including the internet, so that the public has to use the Act minimally to obtain information.

Train Officers:

Public authorities are also responsible for training their officers and developing programs for the effective implementation of the RTI Act.

Create an Index of Documents:

Each authority is required to create and maintain a comprehensive index of all its records.