Three of Pune’s practices under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 will act as role models for the country. This was decided in the recently concluded chief information commissioner’s (CIC) conference in New Delhi. Special appeal disposal programme, open days at government offices and the unique RTI library at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are the three practices, which will be exemplified as role models for the country along...

Six years after the Right to Information Act was passed by Parliament, the government has made no progress in computerisation of its records, a promise it made in the law itself. Amid growing complaints from departments that most of their time is spent in handling RTIs, the Central Information Commission has now reminded the government to do a status check of the implementation of the RTI Act and computerise all...

-The Times of India   Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects should be covered under Right to Information (RTI) Act, but government agencies involved in the projects should be asked to provide information under the law. Ahluwalia was in favour of full disclosure by public authorities of all relevant aspects of PPPs and performance under them. "PPP should be covered under RTI Act, but government agency...

-Daily Bhaskar   On Saturday, Central Information Commissioner (CIC) Shailesh Gandhi said that the Right To Information (RTI) was under threat due to the increasing number of appeals pending before information commissioners in the country. He was speaking as chief guest at a regional workshop sponsored by the directorate of personnel and training on 'Proactive disclosures: the way forward'. The workshop was organised by Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada). Delegates from...

-PTI   Government has spent nearly Rs 42 crore on foreign visits by Union Ministers during the last one year. The information provided in an RTI reply shows that while Cabinet Ministers spent Rs 37.16 crore on their foreign visits, their junior colleagues, Ministers of State, spent about Rs 4.76 crore on these visits bringing the total travel expenditure to Rs 41.82 crore for the year 2010-11. The Cabinet Secretariat has given these...