| 1. |
What
are the obligations of public authority? |
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It
shall publish within one hundred and twenty days of the enactment:-
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the
particulars of its organization, functions and duties;
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the
powers and duties of its officers and employees;
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the
procedure followed in its decision making process, including
channels of supervision and accountability;
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the
norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;
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the
rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records used by its
employees for discharging its functions;
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a
statement of the categories of the documents held by it or under
its control;
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the
particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with,
or representation by the members of the public, in relation to the
formulation of policy or implementation thereof;
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a
statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies
consisting of two or more persons constituted by it. Additionally,
information as to whether the meetings of these are open to the
public, or the minutes' of such meetings are accessible to the
public;
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a
directory of its officers and employees;
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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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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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the
manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts
allocated and the details and beneficiaries of such programmes;
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particulars
of recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations granted by
it;
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details
of the information available to, or held by it, reduced in an
electronic form;
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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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the
names, designations and other particulars of the Public
Information Officers.[S.4(1)(b)]
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| 2. |
What
does a "public authority" mean? |
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It
means any authority or body or institution of self-government
established or constituted: [S.2(h)]
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by
or under the Constitution;
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by
any other law made by Parliament;
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by
any other law made by State Legislature;
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by
notification issued or order made by the appropriate
Government.and includes any-
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body
owned, controlled or substantially financed
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non-Government
organization substantially financed directly or indirectly
by the appropriate Government.
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| 3. |
Who
are Public Information Officers (PIOs)? |
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PIOs
are officers designated by the public authorities in all
administrative units or offices under it to provide information to the
citizens requesting for information under the Act. Any officer, whose
assistance has been sought by the PIO for the proper discharge of his
or her duties, shall render all assistance and for the purpose of
contraventions of the provisions of this Act, such other officer shall
be treated as a PIO. |
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| 4. |
What
are the duties of a PIO? |
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- PIO shall
deal with requests from persons seeking information and where the
request cannot be made in writing, to render reasonable assistance
to the person to reduce the same in writing.
- If the
information requested for is held by or its subject matter is
closely connected with the function of another public authority,
the PIO shall transfer, within 5 days, the request to that other
public authority and inform the applicant immediately.
- PIO may seek
the assistance of any other officer for the proper discharge of
his/her duties.
- PIO, on
receipt of a request, shall as expeditiously as possible, and in
any case within 30 days of the receipt of the request, either
provide the information on payment of such fee as may be
prescribed or reject the request for any of the reasons specified
in S.8 or S.9.
- Where the
information requested for concerns the life or liberty of a
person, the same shall be provided within forty-eight hours of the
receipt of the request.
- If the PIO
fails to give decision on the request within the period specified,
he shall be deemed to have refused the request.
- Where a
request has been rejected, the PIO shall communicate to the
requester - (i) the reasons for such rejection, (ii) the period
within which an appeal against such rejection may be preferred,
and (iii) the particulars of the Appellate Authority.
- PIO shall
provide information in the form in which it is sought unless it
would disproportionately divert the resources of the Public
Authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of
the record in question.
- If allowing
partial access, the PIO shall give a notice to the applicant,
informing:
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that
only part of the record requested, after severance of the record
containing information which is exempt from disclosure, is being
provided;
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the
reasons for the decision, including any findings on any material
question of fact, referring to the material on which those
findings were based;
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the
name and designation of the person giving the decision;
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the
details of the fees calculated by him or her and the amount of fee
which the applicant is required to deposit; and
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his
or her rights with respect to review of the decision regarding
non-disclosure of part of the information, the amount of fee
charged or the form of access provided.
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If
information sought has been supplied by third party or is treated
as confidential by that third party, the PIO shall give a written
notice to the third party within 5 days from the receipt of the
request and take its representation into consideration.
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Third
party must be given a chance to make a representation before the
PIO within 10 days from the date of receipt of such notice.
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