Section Text
(1)Every public authority shall--
(a)maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the formwhich facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that allrecords that are appropriate to be computerised are, within a reasonable timeand subject to availability of resources, computerised and connected through anetwork all over the country on different systems so that access to suchrecords is facilitated;
(b)publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,--
(i) theparticulars of its organisation, functions and duties;
(ii)the powers and duties of its officers and employees;
(iii)the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels ofsupervision and accountability;
(iv)the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;
(v) therules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under itscontrol or used by its employees for discharging its functions;
(vi) astatement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under itscontrol;
(vii)the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representationby, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy orimplementation thereof;
(viii)a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting oftwo or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advise,and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and otherbodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessiblefor public;
(ix) adirectory of its officers and employees;
(x) themonthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, includingthe system of compensation as provided in its regulations;
(xi)the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of allplans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;
(xii)the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocatedand the details of beneficiaries of such programmes;
(xiii)particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted byit;
(xiv)details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced inan 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 publicuse;
(xvi)the names, designations and other particulars of the Public InformationOfficers; .
(xvii)such other information as may be prescribed; and thereafter update thesepublications every year;
(c)publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcingthe decisions which affect public;
(d)provide reasons for its administrative or quasi judicial decisions to affectedpersons.
(2) Itshall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps inaccordance with the requirements of clause (b) of sub-section (1) to provide asmuch information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through variousmeans of communications, including internet, so that the public have minimumresort to the use of this Act to obtain information.
(3) Forthe purpose of sub-section (1), every information shall be disseminated widelyand in such form and manner which is easily accessible to the public.
(4) Allmaterials shall be disseminated taking into consideration the cost effectiveness,local language and the most effective method of communication in that localarea and the information should be easily accessible, to the extent possible inelectronic format with the Central Public Information Officer or State PublicInformation Officer, as the case may be , available free or at such cost of themedium or the print cost price as may be prescribed.
Explanation.--For the purposes of sub-sections (3) and (4),"disseminated" means making known or communicated the information tothe public through notice boards, newspapers, public announcements, mediabroadcasts, the internet or any other means, including inspection of offices ofany public authority.