second administrative reforms commission’s reports...the first report deals with the...

Second Administrative Reforms Commission’s Reports

Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance

A Presentation by

Dr. K. B. RaiAdvisor (AR)

History & Background•The Govt. of India setup a Commission of Inquiry calledthe “Second Administrative Reforms Commission” toprepare a detailed blueprint for revamping the publicadministration system in August, 2005.•It was headed by Shri Veerappa Moily and had 5 othermembers•The Commission was to suggest measures to achieve aproactive, responsive, accountable, sustainable andefficient administration for the country at all levels ofgovernment.

Reports prepared by the CommissionThe Commission has prepared the following fifteen reports : -

1. Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance2. Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlement and Governance3. Crisis Management: From Despair to Hope4. Ethics in Governance5. Public Order: Justice for Each – Peace for All6. Local Governance7. Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution – Friction to Fusion8. Combating Terrorism9. Social Capital – A Shared Destiny10. Refurbishing of Personnel Administration – Scaling New Heights11. Promoting e-Governance - The Smart Way Forward12. Citizen Centric Administration – The Heart of Governance13. Organizational Structure of Government of India14. Strengthening Financial Management System15. State and District Administration

Reports examined and accepted by Govt. of India

Out of these fifteen reports, the following 5 reports have beenexamined by a Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary, till date andmany of the recommendations have been accepted: -

1. Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance2. Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlement and Governance3. Crisis Management: From Despair to Hope4. Ethics in Governance5. Local Governance

Categorization of accepted reports

The findings of the reports can, broadly,be dividedinto the following categories: -

a. Accepted recommendations to be implemented byGovt. of Delhi.

b. Accepted recommendations to be implemented byGovt. of India.

c. Unaccepted recommendations requiring no action byDelhi Govt.

Action on accepted reports

• Govt. of Delhi needs to take urgent steps on theaccepted recommendations.

• A nodal officer needs to be appointed by eachdepartment to examine these issues and takenecessary steps to implement therecommendations.

• An implementation report needs to be sent toA.R. Department by 15th November, 2009.

Monitoring of Reports• Secretary (AR) will convene meetings at his level with the nodal

officers to guide them about the action required to be taken byeach department and review the progress.

• Review meetings in respect of each report will be undertakenwith the nodal officers of the respective departments, which areconcerned with the implementation of the specific report.

• All reports do not necessarily require implementation by alldepartments, as some of them are subject specific concerninglimited departments. As such only concerned departmentsrequire to implement that report will be invited for discussions.


The First report deals with the implementation ofRight to Information Act, 2005, It suggestsamendment in the Official Secrets Act, 1923, IndianEvidence Act, 1872, Central Civil Services (Conduct)Rules, Classification of Information, Manual OfficeProcedure, Oath of Secrecy etc.


Some of the important recommendations requiring prompt action bythe Govt. of Delhi are as under: -•Designation of First Appellate Authorities by all Departments•Training of staff apart from PIO and APIO•Launch of awareness programme•Preparation of guide and comprehensive material for use by citizens•Preparation of exhaustive list of public authorities•Setting up of public grievance redressal authority•Indexing and cataloguing of records by Legislative Assembly•Throwing open the working of legislative committee to the public•Computerization of record in subordinate courts

Accepted points to be implemented by Govt. of Delhi

Capacity Building and Awareness Generation (Para 5.5.5.)

11. (a)Training programmes should not be confined to merely PIOs and APIOs. All

government functionaries should be impartedatleast one day training on Right toInformation within a year. These trainingprogrammes have to be organized in adecentralized manner in every block. A

cascading model could be adopted with abatch of master trainers in each district.(28)

Contd..(b) In all general or specialized training programmes, of more than 3 days duration, a half-day module on Right to Information should be compulsory.(29)(c) Awareness campaigns should beentrusted to credible non profit organizationsat the State level. They should design a multimedia campaign best suited to the needs, inthe local language.(30)

Contd…(d) Central/State governments should bring out

guides and comprehensible informationmaterial within the prescribed time.(31)

(e) The CIC and the SICs may issueguidelines for the benefit of public authoritiesand public officials in particular and public ingeneral about key concepts in the Act andapproach to be taken in response toinformation requests on the lines of theAwareness Guidance Series referred to above(32)

12. Monitoring Mechanism (Para 5.6.4)(a) The CIC and the SICs may be entrustedwith the task of monitoring effectiveimplementation of Right to Information Act inall public authorities.(33)(b) As a large number of Public Authoritiesexist at regional, state, district and sub districtlevel, a nodal officer should be identifiedwherever necessary by the appropriatemonitoring authority (CIC/SIC) to monitorimplementation of the Act.(34)

Contd….(c) Each public authority should beresponsible for compliance of provisions ofthe Act in its own office as well as that of thesubordinate public authorities.(35)(d) A National Coordination Committee (NCC)may be set up under the chairpersonship ofthe Chief Information Commissioner with thenodal Union Ministry, the SICs andrepresentatives of States as members.

Facilitating Access (Para 6.2.7)(a) In addition to the existing modes ofpayment, appropriate governments should amend the Rules to include payment through postal orders.(37)(b) States may be required to frame Rulesregarding application fee which are inharmony with the Central Rules. It needs tobe ensured that the fee itself does not become a disincentive.(38)

Contd…(c) Appropriate governments may restructure

the fees (including additional fees) in multiplesof Rs 5. {e.g. instead of prescribing a fee ofRs. 2 per additional page it may be desirableto have a fee of Rs. 5 for every 3 pages orpart thereof}.(39)

(e) As all the post offices in the country havealready been authorized to function as APIOs on behalf of Union Ministries/ Departments, they may also be authorized to collect the fees in cash and forward a receipt along with the application.(41)

Inventory of Public Authorities (Para 6.3.2)• Each Union Ministry/Department should also have

an exhaustive list of all public authorities, which come within its purview. The public authorities coming under each ministry/ department should be classified into

• (i) constitutional bodies, • (ii) line agencies, • (iii) statutory bodies, • (iv) public sector undertakings, • (v) bodies created under executive orders, (vi)

bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed, and

• (vii) NGOs substantially financed by government. Within each category an up-todate list of all public authorities has to be maintained.(43)

Contd…• (a) Each public authority should have the

details of all public authorities subordinate to itat the immediately next level. This shouldcontinue till the last level is reached. All thesedetails should be made available on thewebsites of the respective public authorities,in a hierarchical form.(44)

• A similar system should by the States.(45

Application to Non Governmental Bodies (Para 6.6.6)

(a) Organisations which perform functions of a public nature that are ordinarily performed by government or its agencies, and those which enjoy natural monopoly may be brought within the purview of the Act.(48)(b) Norms should be laid down that anyinstitution or body that has received 50% of its annual operating costs, or a sum equal to or greater than Rs.1 crore during any of the preceding 3 years should be understood to have obtained ‘substantial funding’ from the government for the period and purpose of such funding.(49)

Contd..(c)Any information which, if it were held by the

government, would be subject to disclosure under the law, must remain subject to such disclosure even when it is transferred to a non-government body or institution.(50)

(d) This could be achieved by way of removal of difficulties under section 30 of the Act.(51)

Time Limit for Information Beyond 20 Years (Para 6.7.6)

(a) The stipulation of making available 20-year old records on request should be applicable only to those public records which need to be preserved for such a period. In respect of allother records, the period of availability will be limited to the period for which they should be preserved under the record keeping procedures (52)

Mechanism for Redressal of Public Grievances (Para 6.8.3)

States may be advised to set up independent public grievances redressal authorities to deal with complaints of delay, harassment or corruption. These authorities should work in close coordination with the SICs/District Single Window Agencies, and help citizens use information as a tool to fight against corruption and misgovernance, or for better services.(55)

Frivolous and Vexatious Requests (Para 6.9.5)

(a) Section 7 may be amended to insert subsection (10) as follows:

“The PIO may refuse a request for information if the request is manifestly frivolous or vexatious.”

Provided that such a refusal shall becommunicated within 15 days of receipt ofapplication, with the prior approval of theappellate authority.

Contd…(b) It may be provided that information can be

denied if the work involved in processing therequest would substantially and unreasonablydivert the resources of the public body Provided that such a refusal shall be communicated within 15 days of receipt of application, with the prior approval of the appellate authority.

Provided further that all such refusals shallstand transferred to CIC/SIC, as the case maybe and the CIC/SIC shall dispose the case asif it is an appeal under section 19(3) of the RTIAct.

Application of the Act to the Legislature and the Judiciary(a) A system of indexing and cataloguing of records of the legislatures, which facilitates easy access should be put in place. This could be best achieved by digitizing all the records and providing access to citizens with facilities for retrieving records based on intelligible searches.(58)

Contd…• (b) A tracking mechanism needs to be

developed so that the action taken by the executive branch on various reports like CAG, Commissions of Enquiry and House Committees is available to legislators and public, online.(59)

• (c) The working of the legislative committees should be thrown open to the public. The presiding officer of the committee, if required in the interest of State or privacy, may hold proceedings in camera.(60)

Contd..(d) The records at the district court and the

subordinate courts should be stored in a scientific way, by adopting uniform norms for indexing and cataloguing.(61)

(e) The administrative processes in the district and the subordinate courts should be computerized in a time bound manner. These processes should be totally in the public domain.(62)

Implementation of section 4 of the Act• CIC is emphasizing placing maximum

information in the public domain• Computerization of records• Preparation of 17 manuals• Publishing all relevant facts while formulating

important policies and announcing decisions which affect public

• Provide reasons for its administrative and quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons

Updating of RTI website

• PIOs not uploading applications and replies given• First appellate authorities not uploading appeals and

decisions• Frequent change of PIO resulting in administrative

problems and non compliance of instructions• Please obtain ID and Pass words and update the web

site.


Some of the important recommendations requiring prompt action bythe Govt. of India are as under: -•Amendment in Official Secret Act, Manual of Office Procedure Act,CCS (Conduct) Rules so as to make provision for avoiding secrecy•Amendment in Manual of Departmental Security Instructions relatingto classification of information•Bringing reforms with regard to appointment of Central InformationCommission•Rationalizing fee structure•Authorizing post offices to collect fee and cash•Preparation of complete list of public authorities•Defining norms for bringing substantially funded organizations underRTI•Bringing amendment to take care of frivolous and vexatious requests

Accepted points to be implemented by Govt. of India


Some of the recommendations which have not been accepted are as under: -•Repeal of the Official Secrets Act, 1923•Amendment of Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act relating to GovernmentPrivilege•Amendment to Article 75(4) and 164(3) relating to Oath of Secrecy Exemptionfrom Armed Forces from RTI Act•Amendment to Para 118 of Manual of Office Procedure relating to deletion ofpara concerning noting portion of files•Amendment to Section 12 relating to widening the scope of selection committeefor CIC to include Chief Justice of India•Fixing minimum level of Dy. Secretary to be PIO•Setting up of Public Record Offices•Appointment of 50% Information Commissioners from Non Civil Servants

Unaccepted points requiring no action by Govt. of Delhi

Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlement and Governance

• Second report is basically related to implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

• This report brings a shift in Government’s approach towards development. Instead of relying only on increase in general affluence to enhance the living standards of citizens, the approach is to consider the acquisition of minimum levels of education, health, employment and nutrition as basic entitlements, and recognize the key role of the state in providing them to every needy citizen in the country. It contains a review of public employment programme - NREGA

Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlement and Governance

• Though the report may not be relevant to all departments but its findings can be useful in decision making and delivery of services in the sectors like education, health, employment and nutrition for deciding basic entitlements.

Further workshops

1. Crisis Management: From Despair to Hopeon 9/11/2009 at 11 AM for concerneddepartments

2. Ethics in Governance on 11/11/2009 at 11AM for Delhi Govt. departments and at2.00 PM for others

3. Local Governance on 13/11/2009 at 11 AMfor concerned departments

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