The Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) authorities have made it mandatory for all departments to display important information on the website of the institution at the earliest. The Registrar has issued an official order regarding this to all chairpersons, directors and the heads of departments concerned. The order reads, “It has been brought to the notice of the university authorities that important information, which is mandatory for suo-motu disclosures under Section 4(1) (b) and Section 4 (2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, is not available on the official website of the university. Therefore, everyone is directed that they must ensure that information regarding their department is uploaded on the website.”
Section 4 (1) (b) of the RTI Act makes it mandatory for all public authorities to proactively publish its information. Under this section, the government is required to disclose 17 specific categories of details, including the particulars of the organisation as well as its functions and duties, the powers and duties of its officers and employees, decision-making process and the channels of supervision and accountability, budget allocation, remuneration of its employees and the directory of its officers and employees, names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers, etc. The publishing of information is important to ensure transparency as well as reduce the need of filing an RTI application for gaining access to such information.
Similarly, Section 4 (2) of the RTI Act mandates providing as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including Internet.
