Calcutta Telegraph: New Delhi: Wednesday,
June 29, 2016.
The cabinet
secretariat has asked all ministries and government departments to upload their
"major achievements, significant developments and important events"
on their websites every month to make governance more transparent.
The move
comes after considerable prodding from the Central Information Commission
(CIC).
Acting on an
appeal of Right to Information activist Venkatesh Nayak, the CIC last month
asked the government to comply with his suggestion that Rule 10 of the
"Rules of procedure in regard to proceedings in the Cabinet" be
implemented. This rule has been in place since 1987, though essentially for
members of the council of ministers.
According to
the rule, every month a summary of the work of every department and ministry
should be circulated among the ministers. If there is any classified material,
it should be marked as such.
The
petitioner's contention was that portions of these monthly reports that are
either "unclassified" or not exempted under Section 8 of the RTI Act
could be made public.
Section 8 of
the RTI Act lists the instances under which a public authority can withhold
information. These include matters of security and strategic importance, issues
that could lead to a breach of privilege of Parliament, trade secrets or
intellectual property, and information that courts have forbidden from
publication.
While ordering
that the monthly reports prepared for the council of ministers be placed in the
public domain, the CIC contended that people were anyway being allowed under
RTI to inspect the register that lists topics on the agenda of the Union
cabinet. Also, it said, this would promote public interest.
Now that the
cabinet secretariat has decided to comply with the CIC's order, Nayak told this
newspaper it would be important to ensure the government does not turn
compliance into a propaganda vehicle.
"If the
monthly reports that have been shared with us via RTI applications are anything
to go by, there is a template of sorts. While the finance ministry filed 'nil
reports', some departments like that of revenue are providing information that
should be put out there but we need to remain vigilant and ensure compliance is
not just in letter but also in spirit."
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