In a significant move towards transparency, the government said all public authorities should proactively disclose information related to public private partnerships (PPP) projects on their websites.
Though the disclosure will be voluntary, this marks a shift from the Centre’s stand for the last two years when it had stonewalled the Central Information Commission (CIC)’s recommendation seeking disclosure of PPP projects and will herald greater transparency.
Guidelines issued by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) said that details, including setting up of special purpose vehicles, concession agreements, process of selection of private party, information on fees, toll or other revenue collected under authorization from the government should be made public voluntarily.
The guidelines come at a time when all core infrastructure projects, including highways, ports, airports, metros and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DIMC), are being built under the PPP model. The department has accepted the recommendations of a government task force set up in May, 2011.The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has recommended that information related to foreign tours of the PM and the council of ministers, RTI responses (unless relating to personal information of an individual), transfer policies and orders, CAG and PAC’s remarks, information related to procurement should be proactively disclosed under Section 4 of the RTI Act.
Section 4 of the RTI Act mandates that public authorities proactively disclose information of public interest and was expected to cut down on applications while bringing transparency in the government’s functioning. However, most public authorities have not taken its implementation seriously; consequently websites and public documents have outdated information forcing people to apply under the RTI Act for information that should be easily accessible. The argument for inclusion of PPP projects was that private parties spending taxpayers’ money should be made accountable.
The guidelines also say that compliance mechanism for sou moto disclosure will include annual audit of proactive disclosure done by a third party. DoPT has cautioned that information should be complete, easily accessible, technology and platform neutral, in local language and bereft of technical jargon
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