CIC: Place entire information regarding each & every award on the official website along with reasons & the recommendations of jury; It is the duty of the Sahitya Akademi to ensure transparency in every award selection as per Section 4(1)(b) of RTI Act
31 May, 2017CIC: The Sahitya Akademi to place entire information regarding each and every award every year, along with reasons, citation of merits, recommendations of jury, formation of jury members or names of those who recommended jury members (without personal and contact details) whenever the awards are announced, on their official website; From the stage of applications to short listing, merit analysis, comparison if any, should be on public domain to remove the general doubts among the people about the selection of personalities for awards; It is the duty of the Sahitya Akademi to ensure transparency on every such award selection as per Section 4(1)(b) Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; of RTI Act
FINAL ORDER
FACTS:
1. Prof. N Govinda Rao filed RTI application about 2010 Sahitya Akademi Award for Telugu, on 14.10.2010. Referring to three names - Mr Kalipatnam Ramarao, V S Ramadevi (since deceased) Prof. Betavolu Ramabrahmam, appellant asked
“who suggested these names from the panel prepared by the Sahitya Akademi...Does one expert gave all the three names or individual members arrived at these names for preparing the jury members for final selection”.
Appellant stated that Prof. Y. Lakshmi Prasad, was the awardee for Telugu 2010, who was selected as per the convention of jury members of the aforesaid award were announced with press announcement.
The CPIO replied on 26.10.2016 that there are ten Advisory Board Members for each language and each member suggests the names for Jury; after collecting names received from the various Advisory Board members, a panel is formed. Then the President of the Academy selects the Jury members for each year from the panels received from the Advisory Board members.
2. Appellant further wrote to the Academy saying ‘for instance somebody from advisory members must have been suggested Prof Ramabrahmams name. Likewise the other advisory board members for 2010 Telugu Award might have suggested one or more names comprising the jury for the said purpose. He wanted who suggested the jury names from Akademi’s advisory board. He wanted names of advisory board members that suggested the names sent for constituting the panel to give shape to final jury.
3. Then the CPIO provided the ten names of Telugu Advisory Board members on 2 December 2016, as: Prof. C Mrinalini, Prof SV Satyanarayana, Sri Sheela Veerraju, Ms Volga, Dr Papineni Shivashankar, Dr Yendluri Sudharkar, Sri T Devipriya, Dr. Rachapalem Chandrasekhara Reddy, Dr Ammangi Venugopal and Dr. N Gopi.
4. The appellant wrote back on 16.12.2016 that he wanted such information with reference to award in 2010, but the CPIO provided panel of 2013-2017. He said that he did not ask these names at all. He explained that as he wanted to write a book about Sahitya Akademi of latest two decades, he needed authentic information. He reiterated ‘who suggested the names of the final jury panel relating to 2010 Telugu Award.
5. On 12th April 2017, CPIO wrote to appellant, giving names of Advisory Board Members who suggested these 3 jury members, as Dr K Rukbuddin, Dr. Kethu Vishvanath Reddy, Dr. Chaganti Tulsi.
6. It was also further informed that Dr K Rukbuddin recommended Jury name of Prof Bethavolu Ramabrahmam, Dr Ghanta Chakrapani recommended Jury name of Sri Kalipatnam Ramarao and Dr Chaganti Tulasi recommended Jury name of Dr V S Ramadevi. Ten names in Telugu Advisory Board (2008-2012) were also given.
7. Appellant could not attend due to illness. When contacted on phone, the appellant said that he got the names of advisory board and does not need any more.
8. The Commission advises the applicants generally to seek only information available on record and to avoid harsh language, provide emailed and phone contact number. If there is any valid ground for complaint they are free to file detailed complaint and seek action on that. In this case the CPIO has not denied the information but it was delayed, because what was given was not asked for. The CPIO is expected to call or mail the applicant, if needed, before writing letters costing public money and three or four months time.
9. The Commission requires under Section 19(8)(iii) of RTI Act, the Sahitya Akademi to place entire information regarding each and every award every year, along with reasons, citation of merits, recommendations of jury, formation of jury members or names of those who recommended jury members (without personal and contact details) whenever the awards are announced, on their official website. From the stage of applications to short listing, merit analysis, comparison if any, should be on public domain to remove the general doubts among the people about the selection of personalities for awards. It is the duty of the Sahitya Akademi to ensure transparency on every such award selection as per Section 4(1)(b) Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; of Right to Information Act, 2005.
10. The Commission finds sufficient information has been provided, and hence, the appeal is disposed of.
SD/-
(M. Sridhar Acharyulu)
Central Information Commissioner
Citation: Prof. N. Govinda Rao v. PIO, Sahitya Akademi in CIC/SAHAK/C/2017/116039 Decided on : 22.05.2017