To,
Shri P K Jha
Joint Secretary,
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
Government of India,
New Delhi.
Dear Shri Jha,
1. It is suggested that draft bill may be reviewed in the light of :
a. Requirements of section 4 of the RTI Act 2005.
b. Recommendations emerging from the Workshop on SOCIAL AUDIT: ROAD MAP FOR EFFECTIVE PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY, organized by the Institute of Public Auditors of India on 26-27 July 2011 ( copy attached for ready reference.)
c. Directions to public authorities by the Central Information Commissioner regarding appointment of Transparency Officer in every Public authorities.
2. In the definition of Information and Facilitation Centre in section 2(i) of the draft bill, statutory obligation of public authorities under section 4 of RTI Act may be incorporated. This aspect has been clarified by Central Information Commissioner regarding appointment of Transparency Officer, available in web site www.cic.gov.in. Accordingly Transparency Officer is a senior person in every public authority to ensure implementation of section 4 of RTI Act. Grievance Redressal Officer envisaged in the draft bill seems to be a comparatively junior level officer, but his duties about disclosure and dissemination of information are akin to Transparency Officer. Linkages between two should be clarified.
3. Citizens Charter envisaged in section 4 of the draft bill may include obligations of public authority under section 4(2) of suo moto disclosure of information. This aspect has been neglected and increase in RTI applications is partly attributable to unsatisfactory implementation of section 4(2). There is need for sustained improvement in quality of disclosure and dissemination of information and this aspect needs adequate emphasis in section 5 of the draft bill.
4. Citizen's scrutiny of public records enables SOCIAL AUDIT and redressal of grievances are interlinked with a transparent regime , where grievance are based on facts contained in public record. SOCIAL AUDIT of MGNREGA is mandatory and the gazette notification of 30.6.2011 on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Audit of Schemes Rule 2011 clarifies that audit of schemes includes SOCIAL AUDIT. Although other centrally sponsored schemes do not have mandatory legal provision about SOCIAL AUDIT, there is need for its conceptual and administrative linkages with redressal of public grievances. In my humble opinion, social audit is vital for highly decentralized implementation of centrally sponsored schemes for socio-economic development. This aspect has been clarified in attached proceedings of the Workshop.
5. Definition of "complaints" under section 2(f) of the draft bill should include social audit finding of citizens by access to public records under RTI Act 2005.
If any clarification is required, I can meet you to explain these aspects, which are vital for effective redressal of public grievances.
Dhirendra Krishna IA&AS (Retired)
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