Context: The RTI Act, 2005, completed 21 years, but implementation gaps persist in Section 4's mandatory proactive disclosure requirements, forcing citizens to file RTI applications for information that public authorities should already publish.
Mandatory Proactive Disclosure under Section 4
- Section 4(1)(b): Requires public authorities to suo motu disclose 16 categories of information, including organisational details, powers and duties of officials, decision-making procedures, rules, budgets, subsidies and contact details, at regular intervals.
- Objective: Ensure that citizens can access basic government information without filing individual RTI applications, thereby strengthening transparency and reducing administrative burdens.
- Additional disclosure guidelines: The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has prescribed disclosure under eight broad categories, including public procurement, public-private partnerships (PPPs) and RTI applications received by departments.
- Transparency audits: Third-party audits are mandatory to assess compliance with Section 4 disclosure requirements, and audit reports are to be shared with the Central Information Commission (CIC).
Findings on Compliance with Section 4
- Audit submission (2024–25): Of the 2,303 public authorities registered with the CIC, only 1,446 (62.7%) submitted third-party transparency audit reports; nearly 37% did not submit them.
- Audit performance: More than 50% of the submitted reports received Grade C or below, indicating scores of 80% or less; Grade E denotes scores below 60%.
- Improving trend: Audit submissions increased from 754 in 2020–21 to 1,443 in 2024–25, indicating improvement in compliance over five years, although substantial gaps remain.
- Departmental website audit: An independent examination of 94 Union government departmental websites found that only 33 published their 2024–25 transparency audit reports; most lacked the latest reports, while some displayed only older reports.
- Disclosure of mandatory information: Of the 94 departments, 56 (about 62%) complied with Section 4 requirements across most categories and provided information for 2025–26. Another 26 lacked the information covered under the Act, while the remaining websites contained minimal or outdated information. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had no information available, according to the analysis.
Growing RTI Pendency
- Increasing workload: The number of new RTI requests and their pendency before the CIC have grown over the years, increasing the burden on information commissions.
- Importance of proactive disclosure: Effective implementation of Section 4 can reduce repetitive RTI applications, improve access to public information and ease pendency before the CIC and State Information Commissions (SICs).
Way Forward
- Ensure regular disclosure: Public authorities should publish updated information in all mandatory categories and maintain easily accessible, searchable and functional websites.
- Strengthen audit compliance: Ensure that all public authorities submit transparency audit reports and publish the findings, with corrective action for poor-performing departments.
- Improve accountability: Monitor compliance through the CIC, fix responsibility for persistent failures and standardise disclosure formats across departments.
- Reduce information asymmetry: Prioritise proactive disclosure of budgets, procurement, public-private partnerships and RTI-related data to make government functioning more transparent and citizen-centric.
Additional Information
Right to Information Act, 2005
- Objective: Promote transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities and empower citizens to access information held by or under the control of such authorities.
- Section 4: Deals with obligations of public authorities, including record maintenance, suo motu disclosure and dissemination of information.
- Section 6: Provides the procedure for requesting information.
- Section 7: Prescribes the general time limit of 30 days for responding to an RTI request; where information concerns the life or liberty of a person, it must be provided within 48 hours.
- Section 19: Provides for first and second appeals against decisions or non-response by public information officers.
- Section 20: Provides for monetary penalties against Public Information Officers in specified cases of unreasonable delay, wrongful denial or other statutory violations.
Central Information Commission (CIC)
- Establishment: A statutory body established under the RTI Act, 2005, to hear second appeals and complaints concerning Central public authorities.
- State Information Commissions: Perform corresponding functions for public authorities within their respective States.
- Significance: Effective functioning of information commissions, combined with proactive disclosure under Section 4, is essential for strengthening transparency, accountability and participatory governance.
