Nalco Bhawan, P/1, Nayapalli,
Bhubaneswar-751061, India
Ph: 0674 -2301988 to 2301999
Fax: 0674 -2300521/2300580
 
   
 
Right to Information Act (Gazette Notification)
Information Published under Section 4(1)(b) of the Act
   
 
Officers and their obligations
What are the obligations of public authority?
What does a "public authority" mean?
Who are Public Information Officers (PIOs)?
What are the duties of a PIO?
 
1. What are the obligations of public authority?

 

It shall publish within one hundred and twenty days of the enactment:-

 i. the particulars of its organization, functions and duties;

 ii. the powers and duties of its officers and employees;

 iii. the procedure followed in its decision making process,       including channels of supervision and accountability;

 iv. the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;

 v. the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records used      by its employees for discharging its functions;

 vi. a statement of the categories of the documents held by it or       under its control;

 vii. 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;

 viii. 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;

 ix. a directory of its officers and employees;

 x. the monthly remuneration 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       particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on       disbursements made;

 xii. the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the       amounts allocated and the details and beneficiaries of such       programmes;

 xiii. particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or         authorizations granted by it;

 xiv. details 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 maintained for public use;

 xvi. the names, designations and other particulars of the Public        Information Officers.[S.4(1)(b)]

 

 

2. What does a "public authority" mean?

 

It means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted: [S.2(h)]

•  by or under the Constitution;

•  by any other law made by Parliament;

•  by any other law made by State Legislature;

•  by notification issued or order made by the appropriate    Government.and includes any-

a) body owned, controlled or substantially financed

b)  non-Government organization substantially financed  directly or      indirectly by the appropriate Government.

 

 

3. Who are Public Information Officers (PIOs)?

 

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.

 

 

4. What are the duties of a PIO?

 

  • 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:

a)  that only part of the record requested, after severance of the record      containing information which is exempt from disclosure, is being      provided;

b) the reasons for the decision, including any findings on any      material question of fact, referring to the material on which those      findings were based;

c)  the name and designation of the person giving the decision;

d)  the details of the fees calculated by him or her and the amount of      fee which the applicant is required to deposit; and

e)  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.

•  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.

•  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.