Foreign trips of CM, ministers to go public under RTI

Bhubaneswar: Odisha govt on Wednesday directed public authorities to disclose details such as foreign tours of the chief minister and ministers, transfer policies and other key information within three days.

The information, to be submitted in both Odia and English, is part of the proactive disclosure under the RTI Act, 2005, and in line with central guidelines.Debabrata Mallick, additional secretary and RTI nodal officer in the general administration department, wrote to public information officers to voluntarily provide information on eight additional points. These include transfer policies and orders, govt procurement, public-private partnerships, RTI applications received, audit objections, citizen charters, discretionary and non-discretionary grants and foreign tours of the CM and ministers under suo motu disclosure provisions.

Currently, one has to apply to govt under the RTI Act to get these information.Authorities are already required to publish 16 categories of information under the Act. The govt has now asked them to add eight more categories, a senior officer said. Proactive disclosure on the additional points has been under review since 2023 following a Supreme Court verdict mandating third-party audits, sources said.The disclosures will undergo annual third-party audits, which can be conducted by departmental training institutes or other govt training facilities.

Audit reports on proactive disclosures will be submitted to the information and public relations department, which will forward them to the Odisha Information Commission.As per the Supreme Court’s Aug 23, 2023 judgment (Kishan Chand Jain vs Union of India), every public authority must undergo an annual third-party audit of RTI disclosures. The audit report has to be submitted along with the RTI annual report in April each year.RTI activists welcomed the move but flagged concerns regarding its implementation. “The Act already mandates voluntary disclosure on the additional categories. However, even the existing disclosures are often outdated. It is high time the government ensures regular updates,” said RTI campaigner Pradip Pradhan. He added that publishing information in Odia remains a key challenge to ensure wider public access.At present, govt departments publish details such as organisational structure, functions, powers of officers, decision-making processes, rules, manuals and records. They also disclose policies on public participation, meeting minutes, staff directories, remuneration, budget allocation, subsidies, beneficiaries, electronic records, public access facilities and details of public information officers.