Public-private partnerships (PPPs) will soon come under the ambit of the RTI (right to information) as per a fresh set of guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on April 15.
According to the guidelines on suo motu disclosure under Section 4 of RTI Act, 2005, the DoPT says since public services are proposed to be provided through PPPs, “all information relating to the PPPs must be disclosed in the public domain by the Public Authority entering into the PPP contract/concession agreement.
“This may include details of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), if any, set up, detailed project reports, concession agreements, operation and maintenance manuals and other documents generated as part of the implementation of the PPP project.” Each Ministry/Public Authority has been asked to ensure that these guidelines are fully operationalised within a period of six months from the date of their issue.
Citizen organisations have for long been demanding that PPPs, which also involve taxpayer money, should be brought under RTI.
To bring in financial transparency, the guidelines further state that with regard to PPPs all information about fees, tolls, or other kinds of revenue can be collected under authorisation from the Government.
Also, information in respect of outputs and outcomes, process of selection of the private sector party may also be proactively disclosed.
“All payments made under the PPP project may also be disclosed in a periodic manner along with the purpose of making such payment,” say the new guidelines, which have been revised on the basis of the report submitted by a task force set up to look into complaints of weak implementation of RTI under Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act.
The Section lays down norms for information that should be disclosed by Public Authorities on a suo motu or proactive basis.
Procurement info
As regards procurement, all Government agencies have been asked to disclose information relating to procurement made by public authorities, including “publication of notice/tender enquiries, corrigenda thereon, and details of bid awards detailing the name of the supplier of goods/services being procured or the works contracts entered or any such combination of these and the rate and total amount at which such procurement or works contract is to be done should be disclosed.”
CAG & PAC paras
After the recent controversy over “leaked” reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the new guidelines propose that “Public Authorities may proactively disclose the CAG & PAC paras and the Action Taken Reports (ATRs) only after these have been laid on the table of both the houses of Parliament.
However, CAG paras dealing with information about the issues of sovereignty, integrity, security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State and information covered under Section 8 of the RTI Act have been exempt.
aditi.n@thehindu.co.in