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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Bring public-pvt projects under RTI Act: CIC by Anahita Mukherji

Bring public-pvt projects under RTI Act: CIC by Anahita Mukherji

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published Published on Sep 26, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 26, 2011

If you are seeking information about a creaking flyover or inflated electricity tariffs under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, what are the chances that your queries will be answered? That may well depend on whether the service or utility is provided by a public body or a public-private partnership (PPP).

While the central information commission treats PPPs as public bodies that should come under the RTI; many have wriggled out of releasing information on the grounds that the RTI Act does not specifically mention PPPs. This is particularly alarming since the coming decade will see an increasing number of projects under PPP. In a bid to bring PPPs under the ambit of the RTI, chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra wrote to the Planning Commission on the matter.

However, he received a non-committal reply from Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairperson of the planning panel. The result? There is still no clarity on the matter. While central information commissioners like Shailesh Gandhi have passed numerous orders directing PPPs to part with information under the RTI, PPPs rush to courts seeking a stay order. The case remains pending in court for years.

Mishra's letter states that according to the RTI Act, public authorities include non-government bodies only if they are substantially financed by the Centre. "In all such projects, which are handed over to a PPP entity for building, operating or maintaining, the land, if not any other resource, given by the government forms a vital component of the project and to that extent, can be deemed to be substantial financing," the letter states, adding that PPPs should be considered public authorities under the RTI.

According to Mishra's letter, all PPP proposals should be published so that they can invite comments and objections from the public before being finalized. He also wants special purpose vehicles (companies formed as a result of PPPs) to be considered as public bodies. His letter further states that the public information officer of the ministry, department or public sector that forms a PPP should be responsible for providing information about the PPP.

But Ahluwalia replied, "It may not be appropriate to expand or reduce the jurisdiction of the information commissions through a contractual arrangement in the concession agreements." The Planning Commission forwarded the matter to the department of legal affairs for advice, which in turn, further passed it on to the departments of personnel and training and the ministry of finance.

"If PPPs are not brought under the purview of the RTI, this amounts to citizens' assets being given away to private parties without any accountability," said Shailesh Gandhi.

The Times of India, 26 September, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Bring-public-pvt-projects-under-RTI-Act-CIC/articleshow/10120133.cms


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