rtiforum

3.         Membership of the Forum is open to all institutions and individuals. Members must be  willing to join the effort to meet the above objectives and be committed to:

a)      the principles and practices of people’s access to information for promoting transparent and accountable governance, institutionalization of democracy and human rights;

b)      mainstreaming the right to information in their own organization and sphere of activities;

c)      transparency and disclosure of all information of public interest according to the provisions of the Act.

4.   Members will be required to comply at a minimum with the following standards:

1. designate an individual as Information Officer[1] to whom requests for information will be sought, properly communicate the same to all concerned through proper and appropriate means e.g. notice board, website etc. The name and contact details of the Information Officer should be communicated to the Information Commission and the RTI Forum Secretariat by a formal note;
2. designate an appellate authority to whom appeal could be made in case of rejection of information by the requester.

1. preserve information through catalogue, index and other appropriate and accessible manner including the use of information technology, as much as possible;
2. publish and publicize all information pertaining to any decision on matters of public interest, any such proceeding or activity executed or proposed, by indexing them in such a manner as may easily be accessible to the citizens.
3. publish an annual report which shall contain detailed description of all activities implemented throughout the reporting year, source funds thereof and audited financial report. Annual report shall be made easily available free of charge for public information.

5.   Members are encouraged to progressively take steps to achieve the following standards:

Maintain the following in a manner to ensure easy public access:

1. i.      particulars of organisational structure and responsibility of the staff  ;
2. ii.      lists of all policy, guidelines ,  directives and notifications, manuals etc including  any documentiation on classification of information in the possession of the organization;
3. iii.      description of the terms and conditions under which a citizen may get services, if applicable;
4. iv.      particulars of the facilities to ensure right to information of the citizens, and the full name, designation, address, and, in cases where applicable, fax number and e-mail address of the assigned officer, which should also be forwarded to the Information Commission;

v.      annual reports, audited financial reports and related documents of at least past 5 years;

vi.     All other publications shall be made easily available to the public at reasonable price.

vii Information on any other matters of public interest shall be communicated through press-note, website or through other appropriate means.

6.         Members of the RTI Forum shall be committed to the principles and practices of the Code of Conduct of the RTI Forum (to be adopted soon), The Code will promote self accountability and peer accountability and in extreme instances processes of exclusion from the Forum.

7.  Annual Conference/Meeting: A yearly meeting/conference will be held where members will have to share their compliance status.