M Veerappa Moily moots single website for govt information

If Union law minister M Veerappa Moily’s has his way, then information seekers across India may soon have a reason to rejoice. The minister has advocated setting up a website wherein proactive disclosures by all government departments can be accessed by public. This idea is in sync with Section 4(1) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, that mandates suo motu (on its own motion) disclosure of as much information as possible by all public authorities.

However, Moily’s dream is still at the incubation stage. The relevant details pertaining to its operation will be worked out by the department of personnel and training, which is the nodal agency for implementing the RTI Act.

“Proactive disclosure of important information by government agencies constitutes the essence of transparency in governance,” Moily said, “The RTI Act emphasizes suo motu disclosure and stipulates publication of prescribed information by all public authorities. Ideally, the information sought should be available without recourse to an application (under the RTI Act).” Moily said a sample of the disclosures had shown that they were perfunctory and lacked substance, which underscored the need for effective monitoring and ensuring quality and accessibility of suo motu disclosures.

“It is necessary to provide a single portal through which disclosures of all public authorities under appropriate governments could be accessed to facilitate easy availability of information,” he said. Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah has iterated that if government departments disclose information, then the number of RTI applications will come down by half.

The law minister also advocated the need for disclosures to be available through the non-electronic media and in the local language at the panchayat (village council) level. He pointed out that a vast majority of Indians and most panchayats still lacked access to computers.