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3.
Right to information |
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Subject to the
provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have
the right to information.
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4 |
Obligations |
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(1) |
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Every public
authority shall - |
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(a) |
maintain all its
records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner
and the form which facilitates the right to
information under this Act and ensure that all
records that are appropriate to be computerised
are, within a reasonable time and subject to
availability of resources, computerised and
connected through a network all over the country
on different systems so that access to such
records is facilitated; |
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(b) |
publish within one
hundred and twenty days from the enactment of
this Act,— |
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(i) |
the particulars of its organisation, functions
and duties; |
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(ii) |
the powers and
duties of its officers and employees; |
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(iii) |
the procedure followed in the decision making
process, including channels of supervision and
accountability; |
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(iv) |
the norms set by it for the discharge of its
functions; |
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(v) |
the rules,
regulations, instructions, manuals and records,
held by it or under its control or used by its
employees for discharging its functions; |
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(vi) |
a statement of the
categories of documents that are held by it or
under its control; |
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(vii) |
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; |
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(viii) |
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 for public; |
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(ix) |
a
directory of its officers and employees; |
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(x) |
the monthly
remuneration received by each of its officers
and employees, including the system of
compensation as provided in its regulations; |
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(xi) |
the budget
allocated to each of its agency, indicating the
particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures
and reports on disbursements made; |
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(xii) |
the manner of
execution of subsidy programmes, including the
amounts allocated and the details of
beneficiaries of such programmes; |
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(xiii) |
particulars of
recipients of concessions, permits or
authorisations granted by it; |
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(xiv) |
details in respect
of the information, available to or held by it,
reduced in an electronic form; |
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(xv) |
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; |
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(xvi) |
the names,
designations and other particulars of the Public
Information Officers; |
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(xvii) |
such other
information as may be prescribed and thereafter
update these publications every year; |
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(c) |
publish all
relevant facts while formulating important
policies or announcing the decisions which
affect public; |
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(d) |
provide reasons
for its administrative or quasi-judicial
decisions to affected persons. |
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(2) |
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It shall be a
constant endeavour of every public authority to
take steps in accordance with the requirements
of clause (b) of sub-section (1) to provide as
much information suo motu to the public at
regular intervals through various means of
communications, including internet, so that the
public have minimum resort to the use of this
Act to obtain information. |
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(3) |
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For the purposes
of sub-section (1), every information shall be
disseminated widely and in such form and manner
which is easily accessible to the public. |
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(4) |
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All materials
shall be disseminated taking into consideration
the cost effectiveness, local language and the
most effective method of communication in that
local area and the information should be easily
accessible, to the extent possible in electronic
format with the Central Public Information
Officer or State Public Information Officer, as
the case may be, available free or at such cost
of the medium or the print cost price as may be
prescribed. |
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Explanation.—For
the purposes of sub-sections (3) and (4),
"disseminated" means making known or
communicated the information to the public
through notice boards, newspapers, public
announcements, media broadcasts, the internet or
any other means, including inspection of offices
of any public authority. |
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Designations
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5 |
Designation of PIOs |
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(1) |
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Every public
authority shall, within one hundred days of the
enactment of this Act, designate as many
officers as the Central Public Information
Officers or State Public Information Officers,
as the case may be, in all administrative units
or offices under it as may be necessary to
provide information to persons requesting for
the information under this Act. |
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(2) |
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Without prejudice
to the provisions of sub-section (1), every
public authority shall designate an officer,
within one hundred days of the enactment of this
Act, at each sub-divisional level or other
sub-district level as a Central Assistant Public
Information Officer or a State Assistant Public
Information Officer, as the case may be, to
receive the applications for information or
appeals under this Act for forwarding the same
forthwith to the Central Public Information
Officer or the State Public Information Officer
or senior officer specified under sub-section
(1) of section 19 or the Central Information
Commission or the State Information Commission,
as the case may be:
Provided that
where an application for information or appeal
is given to a Central Assistant Public
Information Officer or a State Assistant Public
Information Officer, as the case may be, a
period of five days shall be added in computing
the period for response specified under
sub-section (1) of section 7. |
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(3) |
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Every Central
Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be, shall
deal with requests from persons seeking
information and render reasonable assistance to
the persons seeking such information. |
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(4) |
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The Central Public
Information Officer or State Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, may seek the
assistance of any other officer as he or she
considers it necessary for the proper discharge
of his or her duties. |
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(5) |
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Any officer, whose
assistance has been sought under sub-section
(4), shall render all assistance to the Central
Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be, seeking
his or her assistance and for the purposes of
any contravention of the provisions of this Act,
such other officer shall be treated as a Central
Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be. |
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Request
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6 |
Request for obtaining information |
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(1) |
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A person, who
desires to obtain any information under this
Act, shall make a request in writing or through
electronic means in English or Hindi or in the
official language of the area in which the
application is being made, accompanying such fee
as may be prescribed, to— |
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(a) |
the Central Public
Information Officer or State Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, of the concerned
public authority; |
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(b) |
the Central
Assistant Public Information Officer or State
Assistant Public Information Officer, as the
case may be,
specifying the particulars of the information
sought by him or her:
Provided that where such request cannot be made
in writing, the Central Public Information
Officer or State Public Information Officer, as
the case may be, shall render all reasonable
assistance to the person making the request
orally to reduce the same in writing. |
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(2) |
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An applicant
making request for information shall not be
required to give any reason for requesting the
information or any other personal details except
those that may be necessary for contacting him. |
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(3) |
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Where an
application is made to a public authority
requesting for an information,— |
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(i) |
which is held by
another public authority; or |
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(ii) |
the subject matter
of which is more closely connected with the
functions of another public authority,
the public authority, to which such application
is made, shall transfer the application or such
part of it as may be appropriate to that other
public authority and inform the applicant
immediately about such transfer:
Provided that the transfer of an application
pursuant to this sub-section shall be made as
soon as practicable but in no case later than
five days from the date of receipt of the
application. |
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