Skip to main content

RTI payments: Uttarakhand practice can be uniformly adopted across India

In a letter to Sanjay Kothari, Secretary to Government of India, Department of Personnel and Training, Venkatesh Nayak, Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi, has insisted on the need to resolve the problems relating to the payment of various kinds of fees by citizens and their realisation by PIOs under The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). Text of the letter:
***
I am writing to draw your attention to a persistent problem relating to the payment and utilisation of fees under the RTI Act.
The common complaint is that PIOs are required by the applicable financial rules to deposit all fees received from citizens in the bank accounts of their offices and make withdrawals from the funds allotted to meet contingency expenditure for paying the information reproduction charges. Several PIOs, across different states, have reported that they often end up paying the photocopying charges from their pockets as withdrawal from the contingency funds gets delayed and puts them in danger of being penalised for delayed supply of information.
Another dimension of this problem affects the demand side of access to information. While the RTI Rules notified by your department require all payments to be made in favour of the Accounts Officer, several public authorities require these instruments to be drawn in favour of the DDO or the P&AO or some other authority. For example, the web page of the Indian Army instructs RTI applicants to drawn up fee payment instruments in favour of “GSO-1 RTI Fund” (click HERE).
The RTI Rules published by several State Governments do not clearly indicate in whose favour non-cash payment instruments must be drawn. It varies from public authority to public authority. It is unfortunate that this problem has persisted in the second decade of the implementation of the RTI Act making it very inconvenient for citizens, particularly those living in rural areas, to make fee payments under the RTI Act.
I would like to bring to your notice the RTI Rules notified by the State Government of Uttarakhand in 2013, which simplify this procedure. Rule 6 of the said Rules require payment of all kinds of fees in favour of the PIO or the APIO. This is a very convenient procedure for all RTI applicants as the requests for information are also addressed to these designated officers. This practice deserves to be emulated across all jurisdictions including the Central Government.
The practice adopted in Uttarakhand can be uniformly adopted across the country using an existing financial procedural mechanism. Upon a perusal of the General Financial Rules 2005 (GFR), I have found that it is possible to create a simple mechanism for making fee payments and spending the monies under the RTI Act. GFR Rule 88 read with Rule 89 permits the creation of a ‘Personal Deposit Account’ which can be operated by a designated officer for the purposes specified in that Rule. The relevant portions of Rules 88-89 are reproduced below:
“Rule 88. Personal Deposit Account: Personal Deposit Account is a device intended to facilitate the Designated Officer thereof to credit receipts into and effect withdrawals directly from the account, subject to an overall check being exercised by the bank in which the account is authorised to be opened. The Designated Officer shall ensure (with the help of a personal ledger account to be maintained by the bank for the purpose) that no withdrawal will result in a minus balance therein. Only Government officers acting in their official or any other capacity shall be the Designated Officer thereof.”

Rule 89. Authority to open Personal Deposit Account:

“(1) The Personal Deposit Account shall be authorised to be opened by a special order by the concerned Ministry or Department in consultation with the Controller General of Accounts. Such special order or permission shall be issued or granted by the Ministry or Department concerned after it is satisfied that the initial accounts of the moneys to be held in a personal deposit account and disbursed, shall be arranged to be maintained properly and shall be subject to audit. Every personal deposit account so authorised to be opened, shall form part of the Government Account and be located in the Public Account thereof. The provisions relating to “Personal Deposit Account” are contained in para 16.7 of Civil Accounts Manual and Rule 191 to 194 of Central Government Account (Receipts and Payments) Rules…
“(2) Personal Deposit accounts shall generally be authorised to be opened in the following types of cases…
“(c) where, under certain regulatory activities of the Government, receipts are realised and credited to a Fund or Account under the provisions of an Act to be utilised towards expenditure thereunder and no outgo from the Consolidated Fund is involved.”
I would like to recommend that every public authority be required to create a personal deposit accounts operated by the designated PIOs into which he/she may deposit all fees received and make withdrawals directly under the general supervision of the first appellate authority or any other competent senior officer designated by the public authority for that purpose. This would create enormous convenience for PIOs on the one hand and lend sufficient clarity to the RTI applicants for drawing up the fee payment instruments.
Should sub-Rule 89(2)(c) be found inadequate for the purpose of giving effect to the fee receipt and expenditure procedures required under the RTI Act, your Department may make a recommendation to the Controller General of Accounts or any other appropriate authority in the Ministry of Finance to insert new provisions in that Rule for creating such a facility of convenience for the receipt and expenditure of fees under the RTI Act. As the RTI Act is here to stay, a permanent solution needs to be devised urgently to deal with the problem of fee payments.
I would be grateful if you would initiate a discussion in your Department on the suggestion given above and work with the relevant authorities in the Ministry of Finance to iron out the problems created by the inadequacy of procedures for fee payment and utilisation under the RTI Act.

Comments

TRENDING

देशव्यापी ग्रामीण भारत बंध में उतरे मध्य प्रदेश के आदिवासी, किया केंद्र सरकार का विरोध

- हरसिंग जमरे, भिखला सोलंकी, रतन अलावे*  15 और 16 फरवरी को निमाड के बड़वानी, खरगोन और बुरहानपुर में जागृत आदिवासी दलित संगठन के नेतृत्व में आदिवासी महिला-पुरुषों ग्रामीण भारत बंद में रैली एवं विरोध प्रदर्शन किया । प्रधान मंत्री द्वारा 2014 में फसलों की लागत का डेढ़ गुना भाव देने का वादा किया गया था, 2016 में किसानों की आय दुगना करने का वादा किया गया था । आज, फसलों का दाम नहीं बढ़ रहा है, लेकिन खेती में खर्च बढ़ता जा रहा है! खाद, बीज और दवाइयों का दाम, तीन-चार गुना बढ़ चुका है! किसानों को लागत का डेढ़ गुना भाव देने के बजाए, खेती को कंपनियों के हवाले करने के लिए 3 काले कृषि कानून लाए गए । 3 काले कानून वापस लेते समय प्रधान मंत्री ने फिर वादा किया था कि फसलों की लागत का डेढ़ गुना भाव की कानूनी गारंटी के लिए कानून बनाएँगे, लेकिन वो भी झूठ निकला! आज जब देश के किसान दिल्ली में आपको अपना वादा याद दिलाने आए है, तब आप उनका रास्ता रोक रहें है, उनके साथ मारपीट कर उन पर आँसू गैस फेंक रहें हैं, उन पर छर्रों से फायरिंग कर रहें है! देश को खिलाने वाला किसान खुद भूखा रहे, क्या यही विकास है?

नफरती बातें: मुसलमानों में असुरक्षा का भाव बढ़ रहा है, वे अपने मोहल्लों में सिमट रहे हैं

- राम पुनियानी*  भारत पर पिछले 10 सालों से हिन्दू राष्ट्रवादी भारतीय जनता पार्टी (भाजपा) राज कर रही है. भाजपा आरएसएस परिवार की सदस्य है और आरएसएस का लक्ष्य है हिन्दू राष्ट्र का निर्माण. आरएसएस से जुड़ी सैंकड़ों संस्थाएँ हैं. उसके लाखों, बल्कि शायद, करोड़ों स्वयंसेवक हैं. इसके अलावा कई हजार वरिष्ठ कार्यकर्ता हैं जिन्हें प्रचारक कहा जाता है. भाजपा के सत्ता में आने के बाद से आरएसएस दुगनी गति से हिन्दू राष्ट्र के निर्माण के अपने एजेण्डे को पूरा करने में जुट गया है. यदि भाजपा को चुनावों में लगातार सफलता हासिल हो रही है तो उसका कारण है देश में साम्प्रदायिकता और साम्प्रदायिक मुद्दों का बढ़ता बोलबाला. इनमें से कुछ हैं राम मंदिर, गौमांस और गोवध एवं लव जिहाद. 

Only 15% businesses provide employees real-time sustainability dashboards: Study

Kyndryl in collaboration with Microsoft has released the findings of The Global Sustainability Barometer study. The study, conducted by Ecosystm, finds that while 85% of organizations place a high strategic level of importance on achieving their sustainability goals, only 16% have integrated sustainability into their strategies and data. A Kyndryl note: *** Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, in collaboration with Microsoft , today released the findings of The Global Sustainability Barometer study. The study, conducted by Ecosystm , finds that while 85% of organizations place a high strategic level of importance on achieving their sustainability goals, only 16% have integrated sustainability into their strategies and data.

How the slogan Jai Bhim gained momentum as movement of popularity and revolution

By Dr Kapilendra Das*  India is an incomprehensible plural country loaded with diversities of religions, castes, cultures, languages, dialects, tribes, societies, costumes, etc. The Indians have good manners/etiquette (decent social conduct, gesture, courtesy, politeness) that build healthy relationships and take them ahead to life. In many parts of India, in many situations, and on formal occasions, it is common for people of India to express and exchange respect, greetings, and salutation for which we people usually use words and phrases like- Namaskar, Namaste, Pranam, Ram Ram, Jai Ram ji, Jai Sriram, Good morning, shubha sakal, Radhe Radhe, Jai Bajarangabali, Jai Gopal, Jai Jai, Supravat, Good night, Shuvaratri, Jai Bhole, Salaam walekam, Walekam salaam, Radhaswami, Namo Buddhaya, Jai Bhim, Hello, and so on.

Laxmanpur Bathe massacre: Perfect example of proto-fascist Brahmanical social order

By Harsh Thakor  The massacre at Laxmanpur-Bathe of Jehanabad in Bihar on the night of 1 December in 1997 was a landmark event with distinguishing features .The genocide rightly shook the conscience of the nation in the 50th year of Indian independence. The scale of the carnage was unparalleled in any caste massacre. It was a perfect manifestation of how in essence the so called neo-liberal state was in essence most autocratic. 

અત્યારસુધી પ્રિન્ટ કરાયેલા ચુંટણી બૉન્ડ નો પ્રિન્ટિંગ ખર્ચ રૂ 1,90,01,380 કેન્દ્ર સરકારે ભોગવ્યો

- પંક્તિ જોગ  ચુંટણી બૉન્ડ ના કુલ 30 તબક્કામાં SBI  જુદાજુદા 19 રાજ્યો માં અધિકૃત કરેલા SBI મુખ્ય શાખાઓ માંથી જે બોન્ડ વેંચવામાં આવ્યા તેના કમિશન પેટે SBI કેન્દ્ર સરકાર (નાણાં મંત્રાલય) પાસે રૂ 12,4,59,043/-  માંગ્યા. 

Tamil Nadu brahmins are at cross roads, their future scenario remains uncertain

By NS Venkataraman*  For over 70 years now, brahmin community in Tamil Nadu have been abused, insulted and even physically attacked on some occasions by those who claimed that they were part of the so called dravidian movement. However, brahmin community silently and helplessly ducked under pressure and showed no signs of resistance or fight back.

गुजरात विश्वविद्यालय कुलपति महोदया का बयान उल्टा चोर कोतवाल को डांटे समान है

गुजरात विश्व विद्यालय परिसर में विदेशी छात्रों को सांस्कृतिक संवेदनशीलता का पाठ देने की ख़बर के संबंध में विश्व विद्यालय को खुला पत्र: --- प्रति श्री, कुलपति महोदय गुजरात विश्वविद्यालय अहमदाबाद विषय- गुजरात विश्व विद्यालय परिसर में विदेशी छात्रों को सांस्कृतिक संवेदनशीलता का पाठ देने की ख़बर के संबंध में। महोदया,

અંકલેશ્વર/પાનોલી માં વાંરવાર અકસ્માત ના બનાવો બને છે એ એક ચિંતન નો વિષય છે

- સલીમ પટેલ*  પાનોલી જીઆઇડીસીમાં ઓદ્યોગિક ઘન/પ્રવાહી કચરાનું રીસાયલીંગ કરતી RSPL નામની કમ્પની આવેલ છે. જે અન્ય ઓદ્યોગિક એકમોના રાસાયણિક કચરાને રીસાયલીંગ કરવાનું કામ કરે છે જેમાં અનેક અને દુર –દુર ના એકમોનો રાસાયણિક કચરાને અહિયાં પ્રોસેસ માટે લાવવામાં આવે છે. આ દરમ્યાન 23.03.24 નાં રોજ મોડી સાંજે કોઈ કારણોસર રાસાયણિક કચરામાં આગ લાગતા હોળી પેહલા જ વેસ્ટ કેમિકલ હોળી દહન ના દ્ર્શ્યો સર્જાયા હતા અને તેમાં સોલ્વન્ટ સહીત ના ઝેરી તત્વો શામેલ હોવાના લીધે વાતાવરણ પ્રદુષિત બનતા આસપાસના લોકોમાં ભય ફેલાયો હતો. આ અગાઉ પણ ગત વર્ષે પણ પાનોલી જી આઈ ડી સી માં આગ અકસ્માત નો બનાવ બનતા કેટલાક ગામો ને ખાલી કરવાની ફરજ પડી હતી જે ઘટના ને યાદ કરી પ્રજા માં ભય નું વાતાવરણ સર્જાયું હતું.

Holi, also known as Eid-e-Gulabi, is a shared colourful heritage of Hindus, Muslims

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed* Though I never see people as Hindus and Muslims as the famous poet saint Kabir had said that he doesn’t see a Hindu and and Muslim in the eyes of a person but a human! Interestingly yet I would like to share that Tilak Raj Rustagi, a Hindu friend and colleague of mine, has since 1983 been coming to my place on Holi to smear the red gulal on my forehead as a mark of the festival’s inter-faith harmonious spirit. Once a relative of mine, on seeing the colour smeared on my forehead, remarked, “It is irreligious and un-Islamic to play Holi.” I told him that such things only reiterate my faith in my religion, as friendly acts like putting gulal or lighting a candle on Diwali cannot take away my religion. In the same tone and tenure, Atyab Siddiqui, a senior Delhi High Court lawyer, while celebrating the hues of Holi with his wife Umema, son Mizan and Sumaiyya, states this lovely couplet about Urdu, “”Munh par naqab-e-zard har ik zulf par gulal/ Holi ki shaam hi to sahar