RESOLUTION OF THE CONSULTATION

ON RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005 HELD AT PURI

ON 6^TH OCTOBER 2005 UNDER THE JOINT AEGIS OF

PURI DISTRICT ACTION GROUP AND RIGHT TO FOOD CAMPAIGN AT THE CONFERENCE HALL OF PURI COLLECTORATE

While the date of the full enforcement of the RTI Act 2005 covering the whole country is hardly a week away, a one-day Consultation on its operationalisation at the level of the public authorities in the State of Orissa was held at the Conference Hall of the Collectorate, Puri involving Govt. officials, Panchayatiraj representatives and civil society groups. Presided over by Sri Aswini Kumar Das Collector Puri, it was addressed among others by Sri Maheswar Mohanty Speaker of Orissa Legislative Assembly, Sri Panchanan Kanungo former Minister of State for Finance Orissa, Sri Digambar Mohanty Commissioner-cum-Secretary Dept of Information and Public Relations Orissa, which is the nodal agency for operationalising the RTI Act in the State and Sri Gopal Chandra Nanda Addl. Secretary-cum-Director Vigilance Orissa. Representing the civil society, Sri Subhas Gajendra Convenor Puri District Action Group, Sri Pradip Pradhan Convenor Orissa Right to Food Campaign and Sri Chitta Behera a social scientist spoke in the Consultation too.   

The overall ethos of the Consultation hailed the RTI Act 2005 as a unique and historical piece of legislation, that aimed at streamlining the system of governance and as well empowering the citizenry. Having taken a stock of the progress so far made by the appropriate Governments and competent authorities at both Central and State level, the convening organizations arrived at the following Resolution to be endorsed to the concerned authorities for necessary action at their end. 

1. The Consultation fully welcomed the view expressed by both Sri Maheswar Mohanty (Speaker) and Sri Panchanan Kanungo (former Minister of State for Finance) that the RTI Act contained a critical lacunae such as absence of a time limit for disposal of complaint or appeal by the Information Commission, which the appropriate Governments and competent authorities should plug in while making the Rules under the Act.

2. The amount of fees and costs on various items as announced recently by the Central Government Rules under the Act, which are contrary to the letter and spirit of the Sections 4 and 7 of the Act, is highly exorbitant, and should be reduced to 50 to 75 paise per page in place of Rs.2/- and to Rs.10 to 15 per a CD or floppy in place of Rs.50/-. Moreover, since the inspection doesn’t involve any material cost, the charge as suggested by the Central Rules for Rs.5/- for each 15 minutes following the first hour which is free, should be waived completely.

The State Government and competent authorities of Orissa should fix all fees and costs as per the above norm, especially for the reason that the average citizen of Orissa is the poorest in the country. 

3. The Consultation heartily welcomed the Template of Information Handbook under the RTI Act 2005 as provided by the Ministry of Personnel, GOI, which all the public authorities of the country including Orissa should follow in the matter of making a proactive disclosure of 17 nos. of enlisted categories of information through various means including print and internet, as specified under Section 4 of the Act, for the purpose of access and inspection by the members of the public.

4. The Consultation strongly felt that there being presently no definite arrangement at all in the     public offices for members of the public to inspect their records and files, which is,     however, now an obligation upon each and every public authority to allow under the Section 4 of the Act, the said arrangement which includes sitting, waiting and toilet needs of the      visitors should be adequately and expeditiously ensured with effect from the 12^th of  October when the Act comes into full force.   

5. A foolproof provision for issue of acknowledgement receipt and money receipt by each public authority, in response to an application, complaint or appeal, sent through hand-delivery, post or email by a citizen under the RTI Act needs to be made at each level.

6. The Consultation expressed its anguish at the arbitrary decision taken by the Ministry of Personnel, Govt. of India to exclude the ‘notings on file’ from the purview of information, in blatant contravention of the provisions of the Act, which the Govt. of Orissa, strangely enough, seem to have uncritically followed. The Consultation demanded such an arbitrary interpretation of the law to be jettisoned soon on the part of both Central and State Govt.

7. The Consultation demanded that the appropriate Governments and competent authorities should bring out the requisite Rules under the RTI Act, following which the private and non-Govt. bodies could act as public authorities proper as envisaged under the Act. The said Rules for private bodies should be publicized for eliciting public opinion before their final notification. 

8. The Government of Orissa should publicise the draft Rules on all matters under the Act for eliciting public opinion before making their final notification. Needless to say, the  Section 24 of Orissa General Clauses Act, 1937 obliges a competent authority in the State for  such a practice in general.

ON BEHALF OF THE RTI CONSULTATION ON RTI HELD ON 6.10.05 AT PURI                        

Dated 6^th of October 2005, Puri