358 departments default on public disclosures norms: Centre

NEW DELHI: Over 350 government departments have defaulted in following norms for mandatory public disclosure of information, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

All public authorities or government departments have to disclose certain information under Section 4 of Right to Information Act.

As per annual report of Central Information Commission for 2014-15, out of 1,528 registered public authorities who have submitted RTI returns to CIC, 1,170 public authorities have uploaded RTI manuals or disclosures and 722 have updated them, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

As per the reply, there are 358 public authorities who have not yet made public disclosures. The Section 4 of the RTI Act casts an obligation on public authorities to make public maximum information in their domain.

"The CIC has, from time to time, issued letters to various defaulting public authorities for submission of quarterly returns," the Minister said.