As part of the Duty to Publish (DTP) campaign, CCS sent suggestions to the Administrative Reforms Commission via its RTI (Right to Information) Questionnaire and the Central Chief Information Commissioner's Annual Report for a stronger RTI Act.
The summary of the submissions made by CCS is reproduced below:
ICTs for RTI
Summary of the Centre for Civil Societys main suggestions under Section 4 of the Right to Information Act 2005
Submitted to the Administrative Reforms Commission and the Chief Information Commissioners Annual Report
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Put in place an efficient records management system
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Generate awareness among the people about duties of Public Authorities as well as rights of the public
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Remove the existing culture of secrecy by levying a heavy penalty on and imprisoning non-complying officials
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Put in place a simple mechanism for remitting fees (on-line credit/debit payment, judicial/non-judicial stamps, revenue stamps etc)
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Put in place a Single Window agency to request information and deposit fees both in the form of an information counter at the office of the Public Authority as well as online system
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Widely Requested Information should be made suo moto or voluntarily available to the public
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Make optimum use of ICTs for RTI:
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Each and every Government Department can use open access software such as Wiki or Plone to upload on its own website, information that it has disclosed to citizens under RTI. Using ICTs for RTI in this manner can make the structure of the information access regime mutually beneficial for both the government and the public
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Put in place a mechanism for coordination, sharing and dissemination of best practices among Information Commissioners:
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The Information Commissions of every State/UT can have an Open Day once every month where people can air their complaints, their suggestions and opinions publicly
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o Rulings made by the Information Commission at the State/UT level and the Central Information Commission-level should be uploaded on the website of the other States Information Commissions and the Central Information Commission
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