RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT,2005

 The Right to Information Act, 2005 has been enacted by the government with a view to empower the citizens to obtain information from the Government, and government controlled organisations, as a matter of right with in a stipulated time frame, unless the said information is exempt from disclosure.

The Right to Information Act aims at promoting openness, transparency and accountability in the working of every 'public authority'.  'Public Authory has been defined under Section 2(h) which has been reproduced later under side-heading "Definitions".  trhe citizens can seek information and ask questions from the government organisations, as is done by our elected representatives in the Legislature.  Any informationn which can be obtained in Parliament or state Legislature by the MPs or the MLAs, can be obtained by citizens under this Act.

The transparency and openness in the decision making process of the government, helps in building trust in citizens mind towards actions of the Government , helps in building trust in citizens mind towards actions of the government.  This in turn also helps to curb abuse of power, mismanagement and corruption in the working of the Government and other public authorities.

Scope of the RTI Act.  The ambit of the Right to Information Act, 2005 encompasses a wide spectrum of lbodies beginning with the Central and State Governments, and going down to varius lgovernment departments, bodies created by an act of Parliament or the state Legislatures, bodies created lby a notification or order of the Central and state Governments, local bodies.  Further it includes'bodies owned, controlled or substantially finaned' by government, e.g., public sector organisations, hopitals, Universities, Panchayats and similar other bodies.

The Act, however, exempts security agencies, listed in the Second Schedule appended to the Act, from its purview.  Examples of such organisations are Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing of the Cabinet secretariat (R&AW), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence,Central Economic Intelligence Bureau Directorate Of Enforcement, Narcotics control Bureau, er Force, Boarder Aviation Research Centre,Special Frontier Force, Boarder Security Force(BSF), Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), Indo TTibetan Boarder Police(ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), National Security Guards, Assam Rifles, Defence research and Development Organisation, Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), etc.

Commencement.  The Right to Information Act, 2005 was notified in the Gazette of India Extraordinary on 21st June, 2005.  The Act came into force on 12th October 2005.

The Act extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir[Sec.1(2)].

Important Definitions:

Right to Information[Sec.2(j)].  It means the right to information accessible under this Act  which is held by or under the control of any public  authority and icludes the right to:

(i)inspection of work, documents, records;

(ii) taking notes, extractss or certified copies of documentsor records;

(iii)  taking certified samples of material;

(iv) obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts, where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device.

Information[Sec.2(f)].  Information means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, options, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, log b oooks, contracts, reorts, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.

Record[Sec.2(I)] 'rECORD' INCLUDES:

(a) any document, manuscript and file;

(b)  any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of adocument;

(c)  any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm(whether enlarged or not); and

(d)  any other material produced by a computer or any other device.

Public Authority[Sec.2(h)].  Public Authority means any authority or body or institution of self Government established or constituted.

(a)  by or under the Consttution;

(b) by any other law made by Parliament;

(c) by any other law made by State Legislature;

(d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any:

(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;

(ii)  non-Governement organisation sustantially financed, directly or indirectly,by funds provided by the appropriate Government.

Appropriate Government[Se.2(a)].   Appropriate government means in relation to a public authority, which is established, constituted, owned, controlled or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly;

(i)  by the Central Government or the Union territory administration, in which case appropriate government shall be Central Government;

(ii) by the State Government, where the appropriate Government shall be state government.

Competent Authority[Sec.2(e)].  "Competent Authority " means:

(i)  speaker in the case of House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State or Union Territory having such Assembly and the Chairman in the caseof the Council of States or Legislative Council of a State.

(ii)  the Chief Justice of India in the case of the supreme Court;

(iii) the Chief Justice of the High Court in the case of the High Court;

(iv) the President or the Gov ernor, as the case may be, in the case of other authorities established or constituted by or under the Constitution.

(v)  the administrator appointed under article 239 of the Constitution.

OBLIGATIONS OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES[SEC.4]

(1) Te obligations of Public Authorities (already defined) are as follows:

(1)  Maintenance and computerization of 'records'[Sec.4(1)(a)].

Every public authority shall maintain all its records duly catalogued  and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act.  They shall also ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerised are within a connected through a network all over the country on different systems within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources so that access to such records is facilitated.

(2)  Publication of specified information[Sec.4(1)()].  Every public authority shall publish the following information within 120days of the enactment of this Act:

(i)  the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties;

(ii)  the powers and duties of its officers and employees;

(iii)  the procedure followed in the decision making rocess, including channels of supervision and accountability;

(iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its funtions;

(v)  the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions;

(vi) a statement  of the categories of documents that are held by it or under itrs control;

(vii)  the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the blic in relationn to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; 

(viii)  a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies,consisting of two or more persons constituted as its art or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings ofthose boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public;

(ix)  a directory of its officers and employee;

(x)  the monthly remneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;

(xi)  the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particularsof all plans, propsed expenditures and reports on disbursement made;

(xii)  the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details o fbeneficiaries of such programmes;

(xiii)  particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it;

(xiv) details in respects of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;

(xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maitained for public use;

(xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers;

(xvii)  Such other information as may be prescribed, and thereafter  update these publications every year;

(3)  Every public authority shall:

(i) Publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect public;

(4)  it shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps in accordnce with the requirements of clausse (b) of sub-sections (1)(discussed under point no.2 above) to provdie as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through varius means of communications, including internet, so lthat the public have minimum resort to lthe use of this Act to ob taiinformation[Sec.4(2)].

(5)  Everyinformation shall be disseminated widely and in such form and manner which is easily accessible to the public[Sec.4(3)]

(6)  All materials shall be disseminated taking into consideration the cost effectiveness, local language and the most effective method of communication in that local area. 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 maybe.It shall be available free  or at such cost of the medium or the print cost price as may be prescribed.

As per the explanation, the word disseminated means making know 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.