GUIDELINES ON SUO MOTU DISCLOSURE UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE RTI ACT, 2005 AND COMPLIANCE MECHANISM FOR (PROACTIVE DISCLOSURE)

Since the promulgation of the RTI Act, 2005 , large amount of information relating to functioning of the Government is being put in public domain. However, the quantity and quality of proactive disclosure is not up to the desired level. It is felt that the weak implementation of the section 4 of the RTI Act is partly due to the fact that certain provisions of this section have not been fully detailed and, in case of certain other provisions, there is need for laying down detailed guidelines, Further there is need to set up a compliance mechanism to ensure that requirements under Section 4 of the RTI Act are met. Where in section 4(1) (b) of the RTI Act lays down the information which should be disclosed by the public authorities on a suo motu or proactive basis. Section 4(2) and Section 4(3) prescribe the method of dissemination of this information. The purpose of suo motu disclosures under section 4 is to place large amount of information in public domain on a proactive basis to make the functioning of the public authorities more transparent and also to reduce the need for filing individual RTI applications. In order to address the above, Government of India constituted a task force on suo motu disclosures under the RTI act, 2005 in May, 2011 which included representatives of the civil society organizations active in the field of right to information, for strengthening compliance with provisions for suo motu or proactive disclosure as given in section 4 of the RTI act, 2005 . All the civil society members of the task force are responsible to follow above guidelines of more items under section 4 for digital publication of proactive disclosure under section 4 , detailing of Section 4 (1) (b) (iii) , 4(1) (b) (iv) , 4(1) (b) (xi) and 4(1) (b) (xiv) , however it may be kept in mind that proactive disclosure should be done in the local language so that it remain accessible to public. It should be presented in that is easily understood and if technical words are used, they should be carefully explained. As provided in section 4 , disclosure should be made in as many mediums as feasible and disclosure should be kept up to date. The disclosure of Information may be made keeping in mind the provisions of section 8to 11 of the Act ibid. All Government Ministries/Departments should undertake suo motu disclosure and ensure compliance based on these guidelines:-- Er Fateh Chand Guleria, Director RTI Welfare Association registered number HPCD, 3552 , Bilaspur Himachal Pradesh phone number 9459334377