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Gov-r. OF INDIA j. VINtSTRY ()9 PEASONNFL, PLJBLiC GFIEVANU-ESfvqfmtj Tz Axn prustoxs IMOTES/DD#RESPONDENSE (DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL 8 TRAINING'I l

(KAR vlK. LOK SHt1(A'ï>1 TATH/ PEKSION MANTRALAYA' j( K & R M 1 K At. B PR AS H d KS H AN V l B H AG ) '

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M IM STRY OF PERSONNEL. P.G. & PENSIONSœ epartm ent of Personnel & trainineà

S.NO. 1fPUC)......pps.1- /corr.

'The Freedom of lnformation Bill, 2002', as passed by theL k Sabha on 3rd December, 2002 and the Rajya Sabha onotlt16 December, 2002, received the assent of the President on

6th January, 2003 and ç'T'he Freedom of lnformation Act, 2002, has

th 2003 forbeen published in the Gazette of lndia on 7 January,general information. Section 1(3) of the Act lays down that it shallcome into force on such date as the Central Government may, bynotification in the Official Gazette, appoint. As the basicinfrastructure required for operationalising the Act is in the processof being set up, the Act has not yet been brought into force.

2. The Common M inimum ProgrammeProgressive Alliance inter-alia provides that

of the United

$ The Right to lnformation Act will be made moreprogressive, partfcfpafory and m eaningful. '

A follow-up action Report on the above item was submitted to thePrime M inister who had directed as follows:-

'Thehrst priority should be to bring intoforce the Act aspassed. To expedite this, DOPT should immediatelyplacetheir #rt7.# rules on website ./-0/, inviting comments Xornpublic within a period of45 days. Simultaneously, duringthis period DOPT should arrange meetingts) with theLegislative Dept. at appropriate levels to resolvedfferences regarding the Jrt?./i rules. Drtz./i rules shouldbe hnalized by 15.9.2004 on the basis of inputs receivedfrom public and State Govts. It may not be necessaty towait for a1l State Govts. to respond, as they will beh'aming their own rules.

Simultaneously DopTshould study the F of1 Acts passedby several States to see !/' they have any progressivefeatures that should be incorporated in the Central Act.D OPT'S considered W cw: on this should be received by15.9.2004. '

Pursuant to the directives given by the Prime M inister, an inter-thdepartm ental m eeting was held on 6 A ugust

, 2004 wherein thepositions of the M inistry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensions and the

*. 2 .

contd.

M inistry of Law and Justice over the provision of the drah ruleswere reconciled. These draû rules have subsequently been put onthe website of the M inistry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensions invitingthe public to give its suggestions by 3 1St August, 2004. Thesuggestions so received will thereaher be taken up for examination

th j) ,,4)4)4with a view to tinalise the rules by 15 Septem er, .

3. As for the PM 's directive that a study should be made of theFOl Acts passed by several States with a view to incorporate theirprogressive features in the Central Act, we had written to all StateGovernments to provide us with a copy of their enactment. Theresponse has been somewhat slow in coming and we have rem indedthe State Govem ments to expedite their replies. The matter is alsobeing followed up informally with the State Governments andaccording to available infonnation, there are only 9 Sutes which

have notified their Acts on the subject. Copies of the enactmentshave been received from some of the Stm e Govemments and it ishoped that the remaining States would also respond by the end ofthis month thereby enabling us to undertake the contemplated studyin the first week of September.

4. As m ay be seen from para 2 above, the National Com m onM inimum Program m e also prom ises that the tltight to lnform ationAct will be made more progressive'. In pursuance of the abovecommitment, the National Advisory Council has, aher duedeliberation, forwarded to the Prime M inister a draû amendment tothe tFreedom of lnformation Act' as inputs towards the fulfillmentof this com m itment. On this, the Prime M inister has directed thatthe Department of Personnel & Training may look into the proposalon priority basis and bring a formal note to the Cabinet as soon aspossible so that an amendment Bill can be tabled by theGovernment in the next session of Parliament. This note is a sequelto the directions given by the Prime M inister.

5. The draft amendments suggested by the National AdvisoryCouncil @ AC), prima-facie, are so extensive that these wouldvirtually lead to a repeal of the existing ç Freedom of InfonnationAct, 2002' with the proposed tltight to Information Act,2004'coming as a replacement. In view of the fact that thesuggested Actt of2004j proposes to retain the existing coverage inas much as it will apply to aIl State Governments (except of coursethe J&K), and considering that the Government is also committedto m ake the Act çparticipatory', it may perhaps be appropriate toforward a copy of the amendments, together with the drah of thenew Act as proposed by the NAC, to alI Sute Governments for

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contd.

their considered views and suggestions in the matter. Thispractice, it may be recalled, was also followed in the course offinalizing the present Act when, in 1997, the report of the ShourieW orking Group together wit,h the draft of the Act suggested by it,was fonvarded to al1 State Govermilents for their comments. For afuller participation, it would also be desirable if the draûam endments/proposed A ct are put on the website so as to enablethe public to give its comments/suggestions. Furthermore,considering that meaningful suggestions can be made only after anin-depth study is made of the existing provisions vis-à-vis theamendments suggested by NAC , it is felt that a time period of atleast two months may be given to the State Governments/ public toformulate their views and give us their comments.

l

l 6. The course of action, as suggested in the preceding para, is11 for approval after which a suitable communication shall be sent to1 all State Governments; and, the amendments suggested by the NAC

to be put on the website for inviting the suggestions of the public.

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MOS(PP)'s minute on pre-page.

2. A drah I.D. note, for obtaining the orders of the PrimeM inister, is placed below for consideration and approval.

r w(RAKESH M ALHOTRA)

Under Secretary13.9.2004

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DEPARTM ENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING

t'l-he Freedom of lnformation Act, 2002', as assented to bythe President on 6th Janualy

, 2003, has been published in theGazette of India on 7* January

, 2003 for general infonnation.

2. Section 1(3) of the Act lays down that it shall come intoforce on such date as the Central Government may, by notificationin the Official Gazette, appoint. As the basic infrastructurerequired for operationalising the Act is in the process of being setup, the Act has not yet been brought into force.

3. The Common M inimum Programme of the UnitedProgressive Alliance (UPA) Government envisages that

f The Right to lnformation Act will be made moreprogressive, participatory and meaninful. '

ln furtherance thereotl the Prime Minister has directed as follows:-

LnThehrstpriority should be to bring intoforce the Act aspassed. To expedite this, DopTshould immediatelyplacetheir drah rules on website for inviting comments .//tmpublic within aperiod of45 days. Silnultaneously, duringthis period DOPT should arrange meetingls) with theLegislative D ept. at appropriate levels to resolve

dterences ?'cgtN-#?Wg the lrtz.# rules. Drah rules shouldbe hnalized by 15.9.2004 on the basis of inputs receivedfro/n public and State Govts. ... . .. ''

The deadline for finalizing the draft rules has been extended toth O tober 2004 by a communication dated the 20'h1 5 c

,

September, 2004 from the PM 's Office.

4. Separately, the National Advisory Council has forwardedto the Governm ent a draft of the am endm ents to the FOl A ct asinputs towards the fulfillment of the commitment made in theN ational Com m on M inim um Program m e. P.M . has directedthat the Departm ent of Personnel & Training should look intothe proposal on priority basis and bring a form al note to theCabinet as soon as possible so that an Amendment Bill can betabled by the Governm ent in the next session of Parliam ent

.

With the approval of MOSIPP), a formal reference has beenmade to the M inistry of Law & Justice today for accordinglegislative and Constitutional clearance to the am endm entsproposed by NAC.

l

V.!

- 6 -

from pre-page:

5. Reverting to the directives given by the Prime M inisterfor finalizing the draft rules under the existing Act

, an inter-departmental meeting was held on 6th August

, 2004 wherein thepositions of the M inistry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensions and theM inistry of Law and Justice over the provisions of the draftrules were reconciled. These draft rules were subsequently puton the website of the M inistry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensionsinviting the public to give its suggestions by 3 lSt August

, 2004/A total of 28 responses have been received thereto. H owever,before these are taken up for a colnprehensive exam ination, it isworth mentioning that once the proposal to amend the FO1 Acton the basis of the NAC'S recomm endations comes through, theçFreedom of Information Rules' as may be Gnalized in thecontext of the existing enactment, would loose their relevance.

Having regard to this, it may perhaps be desirable to seek freshdirections from the Prime M inister whether the proposal toGnalise the draft rules under the present Act, and on the basis ofthe responses received from the public on the provisionscontained therein, may be taken to its lo ical conclusion.

l

(RAKESH MALHOTRA)IUnder secretary

kt 21.10.2004*

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