On implementation of RTI Act 2005: Governments initiatives

Department of Personnel and Training November 4, 2008, Delhi

RTI regime in India: facts

RTI Act 2005 operational since October 2005 Information Commissions at the central level as well as at the

state levels (except in J&K) are working

Capacity building of different stakeholders on RTI is in

progress since December 2005

GOI has drawn up program for smooth implementation of the

RTI Act, during 11th Five Year Plans

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RTI Act 2005: looking back to see ahead

Government of India Recognizes the need to remove constraints in early implementation of the RTI Act Is keen to ensure that intended benefits out of RTI regime go to the citizens Wants to know the factors ( institutional, structural, systemic, process related, analytical, etc), that facilitate or hinders implementation of the Act. Launched study on RTI captioned Understanding key issues and constraints in effective implementation of the RTI Act during 2008-09 through an independent agency
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Scope of the Study

Approach and Methodology

Participative Approach to the whole study involving NGOs, CBOs, and Media

Assessment of the current situation

Recommend Changes based on the assessment

Prepare an Implementation Plan

Three Workshops to identify issues and validate the findings

Two Workshops/FGD to discuss the recommendations and Implementation plan

Information Seeker Survey

in five states and central Ministries

Information Provider

Identification of Process

Prepare a detailed action

Gaps based on survey results, observations and case studies

Recommend changes to

plan for implementation of the proposed changes

Survey in five states and Central Ministries

RTI Case Studies RTI successful Practices

plug process gaps

Build in successful

from States
International Benchmarking

with Canada and Mexico

Design of State of

practices into the process

Capacity gaps Infrastructure gaps

Implementation Matrix Design of Issue Identification Framework

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Findings of the Study Status on Key Enablers

Key Findings: Compliance

Limited SIC reviews

Out of 5 States, only Andhra Pradesh has established a mechanism for regular review of Public Authorities for RTI Implementation

Low disposal rate of 2nd appeals

79.4% of the appeals received in Maharashtra in 2007 are still pending

Guidelines for Information Providers and Seekers have not been widely disseminated It was observed during one on one discussions with the PIOs that in Assam that they needed comprehensive guidelines for RTI request processing especially related to rejection clauses of the act
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Findings: Information Disclosure

PIOs are not aware of the Proactive Disclosure done by their department

77% of the Central PIOs were found to be aware 84% of the PIOs in Andhra Pradesh were found to be aware Only 47% PIOs aware in Maharashtra

SIC reports do not contain the status of Proactive Disclosures done by Public

Authorities Out of the 5 States being surveyed, only 2 states (Assam and Andhra Pradesh) SIC reports show the status of proactive disclosure done

There is no monitoring mechanism for Proactive Disclosure in the 4 states

Andhra Pradesh has formed a committee for review of proactive disclosures done by the PAs in the state

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Findings: Information Disclosure

Lack of standard dissemination channels for proactive disclosure

Central PAs were found to use internet for dissemination (93.75%) Majority of PAs in Assam used Printed Books for dissemination (83%)

Information Needs of citizens not being captured to improve Proactive

Disclosure None of the PAs in surveyed states have made an effort to capture information needs and reflect them in their Proactive Disclosures
Central and State schemes do not contain RTI specific guidelines for

proactive information disclosure

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Findings: Capacity Building

Lack of budget provisions for RTI Implementation at the state

No separate RTI budget provision at state level Budget allocation only for SIC and Training (All four states surveyed)

Ineffective Record Management Systems

Record Management System being cited as the major reason for delay in processing of RTI application (Above 80% in Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Maharashtra)

Low levels of Training among PIOs and AAs 46% PIOs at Central level, 72% PIOs in Assam and 50% of PIOs in Andhra Pradesh have not received training

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Key Findings of the Study Challenges faced by Citizen Applicant Side of the Story

Key Findings: Easy Access to Information

Lack of a signage for PIO identification and location at the PA

59% of the respondents said that there was no or little signage present at the PA office for locating the PIO

Lack of easy channel for Information request filing

85% of the respondents said that they had filed their application at the PA office would have preferred more convenient channel

Non standard payment channels for application fee submission Use of treasury challans and court fee stamps inconveniencing the information seekers Also in some cases, used as a means to discourage filing of applications
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Key Findings: Easy Access to Information

Multiple visits to the PA office for filing RTI Applications

More than 33% of the respondents said that they had to visit the PA office multiple times for filing a RTI Application Cost of filing an RTI application is estimated at Rs. 150-300 in Urban Areas and Rs. 100-200 in rural areas (Estimates collected, includes cost of lost wages)

PIO attitude when filing a RTI Application

54% of the respondents surveyed said the PIOs has apathetic attitude towards their RTI request Incomplete and incorrect information being provided by the PIOs This was identified as the major reason for dissatisfaction among Information seekers
Lack of Knowledge about RTI among citizens

More than 50% of the respondents surveyed said that they could ask for information about Private enterprises under RTI Act

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Key Findings of the Study Challenges faced by Government Staff Other Side of the Story

Identification of Challenges in Government Set-up

State of Implementation Matrix
Objectives

Enabling Strategies Gap Areas

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State of Implementation Matrix

State of Implementation being designed to capture objective implementation data from the states. In current situation due non availability of standard data points from across the states, it is difficult to build in qualitative factors into the matrix. Due to the fact that qualitative factors have not been built in, the matrix cannot be used to measure the implementation performance across the states It can only be used as a guiding tool for ascertaining the implementation progress in a particular state over a period of time.

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Immediate future Agenda

Acting upon recommendations of various studies Facilitating easy access to information Strengthening Information Commissions Capacity building Awareness on RTI

Thank You