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Official website of Govt. of Assam - Public Information Officers (Union Govt.) - Public Information Officers (Indian Parliament) - Central Information Commission (CIC) - Directorate of Information & Public Relations Govt. Of Assam

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RTI Disclosures

ASSAM INFORMATION COMMISSION
Disclosures u/s 4 of the RTI Act

Section: 4(1)(b)(i)

Name of the office -Assam Information Commission
Address - Janata Bhavan, Dispur, Guwahati, 781006 Assam

The Information Commissioners-

1. The State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) Shri Ranjit S Mooshahary
2. The State Information Commissioner (SIC). Dr B.K. Gohain

Functions: The Assam Information Commission has been constituted under sub-section (1) of section 15 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 vide notification no AR.77/2005/18 dated 6th October 2005 of the government of Assam. The Commission's mandate is to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to, it under the Act. The Commission consists of (a) the State Chief Information Commissioner; and

(b) one State Information Commissioner The general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the Commission vests in the State Chief Information Commissioner who is assisted by the State Information Commissioner and exercises all such powers and does all such acts and things which may be exercised or done by the State Information Commission autonomously without being subjected to directions by any other authority under the RTI Act. The Act enjoins upon the State Government to provide the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioner with such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of their functions under this Act, and the salaries and allowances payable to and the terms and conditions of service of the officers and other employees appointed for the purpose of this Act shall be such as may be prescribed. So far no post has been sanctioned by the State Government for the Commission.

The financial status - The budget for the Commission is published in the budget book pertaining to the state government.

Reporting to which authority – The Commission enjoys complete autonomy and submits its annual report as envisaged in the Right to Information Act 2005 to the state Assembly.

Jurisdiction:- All public authorities substantially funded by the state Government in the state of Assam are expected to implement the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005

Mission – Ensure that the citizens get information from public authorities in accordance with provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Vision – Transparency in the functioning of public authorities with a view to achieving the goals of good governance and containing corruption.

Objectives – Fulfilling the mandate assigned in the RTI Act, 2005

Details of Services provided / duties –The Commission has been assigned the task of receiving complaints and appeals for providing suitable relief to the petitioners and appellants in obtaining information from the public authorities as per the provisions of the RTI Act 2005.

Physical Assets – The commission does not own any physical assets’

Section 4 (1)(b) (ii) Powers and duties of Officers and employees
Designation, Powers and Duties ;

The State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) : General superintendence, direction and management of affairs of the State Information Commission which receives petitions, appeals and complaints under the RTI Act.
The State Information Commissioners (SIC) : To assist the SCIC in dealing with appeals and complaints and management of the affairs the Commission.

Section 4(1) (b) (iii) : Procedure followed in the Appeals and Complaints and petitions received by the commission :

The Commission receives the Complaints under Section 18 of the RTI Act. The Complaint is placed before the SCIC for deciding the course of action. Where the Commission is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to inquire into the matter it will issue notice to the parties concerned and conduct inquiries.

The Commission receives appeals against the orders of SPIO/ Appellate authorities u/s19 of the RTI Act. And such appeals are dealt within the provision of the RTI Act and rules. Since the disclosure of information is the norm and denial thereof is only with regards to the exempted categories under the Act the commission will take up appeal for hearing by summoning the SPIO/ AA within a reasonable period. The appellant is also given an opportunity to present his/her case during the hearing.

The commission also receives number of petitions from the public seeking information. As the Commission is not the custodian of information these petitions are transferred to the public authorities concerned u/s 6(3) of the RTI Act for furnishing information u/s 7(1) of the Act.

Procedure in dealing with complaints, appeals and annual report

1. Complaints under Sec. 18

Stage 1: notice issued to the public authority/ SPIO and the complainant for hearing after the Commission is satisfied that inquiry should be held u/s 18(2). Inquiry held accordingly and decision given.
Stage2: where the public authority / SPIO fails to respond to the notice without reasonable cause summons issued to them u/s 18(3) for presenting their case in the presence of the complainant and decision handed down after hearing.

2 Appeals under Section 19

Stage 1: On receipt of appeal the Commission examines the matter u/s 19(3) and issues notice / summons to the public authorities for hearing in presence of the appellant and passes orders for compliance.
Stage 2 : Where the public authority / SPIO fails to respond and remains absent for the hearing without reasonable cause summons are issued after fixing a fresh date for hearing the appeal
3. Annual Report: All departments are requested to send statutory information for the financial year ending in March by April 15th as prescribed in Section 25 of the Act for submitting it as part of the Annual Report of the Commission which will be placed before the state Assembly.

4. Procuring Goods and Services for the Commission:
As per General Financial Rules and Delegation of Financial Powers Rules (DFPR).

5 General Administration of the Commission:
As per provision of section 15(4) of the Act and also the delegation of administrative powers, if any.

Section 4(1)(b)(iv)
Norms set for discharge of functions
AIC has set norms for discharge of its functions keeping in view the mandate RTI Act confers on it. These norms are transparency in functioning, impartiality in approach and objectivity in decision.

Under Section 4 (1)(b) (v):- List the rules / regulation / instructions/ manuals /records held for discharging its functions :-

1. The Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005
2. The SCIC (Appeal Procedure) Rules 2005
3. The RTI Regulation of Fee and Cost Rules, 2005
4. files on complaints
5. files on appeals
6. Administration Files
7. Annual Report File
8. files on petitions received
9. files relating procurement of goods and services

Under section 4(1) (b) (vi) ; Nil

Under section 4(1) (b) (vii)
The primary function of the Commission is public in nature. All hearings of the Commission is open to general public. Time to time individual and groups of members of the public seeking any discussion for airing their views are given opportunity to put forward their views to the Commission.

Under Section 4 (1)(b) (viii) : list of boards/ councils/ committees or other bodies constituted for advising CIC These have to be made open to public by making details of minutes in public domain,

There are no boards / councils / committees set up to advice the Commission.

Under Section 4 (1)(b) (ix) : a directory of the officers & employees & their monthly
Remuneration :

SI. No.	Name and Designation	Telephone Number	E-mail address
1	Shri Ranjit S Mooshahary State Chief Information Commissioner	0361- 2261676	scic-as@nic.in
2	Dr B. K. Gohain State Information Commissioner	0361-2262704	birengohain@hotmail.com

According to RTI Act, 2005, the salaries and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of —
(a) the State Chief Information Commissioner shall be the same as that of the Chief Secretary to the state government.Election Commissioner;

Provided that if the State Chief Information Commissioner or the State Information Commissioner, at the time of his appointment is, in receipt of a pension, other than a disability or wound pension, in respect of any previous service under the Government of India or under the Government of a State, his salary in respect of the service as the State Chief Information Commissioner or the State Information Commissioner shall be reduced by the amount of that pension including any portion of pension which was commuted and pension equivalent of other forms of retirement benefits excluding pension equivalent of retirement gratuity.

Provided further that if the State Chief Information Commissioner or the State Information Commissioner if, at the time of his appointment is, in receipt of retirement benefits in respect of any previous service rendered in a Corporation established by or under any Central Act or State Act or a Government company owned or controlled by the Central Government or the State Government, his salary in respect of the service as the State Chief Information Commissioner or the State Information Commissioner shall be reduced by the amount of pension equivalent to the retirement benefits:

Provided also that the salaries, allowances and other conditions of service of the
State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall not be varied to their disadvantage after their appointment.

The scale of pay of commissioners, fficers and employees of Asam Information Commission are :

SI. No.	Designation	Scale of Pay
1	State Chief Information Commissioner	Rs. 30,000 (fixed
2	State Information Commissioner	Rs. 26,000 (fixed)
The Commission at present has no other employee on its roll.

Under section 4 (1)(b) (xi) : Details of allocation of budget & disbursement made during current year has to be provided and it has already been placed on this website

Under section 4(1) (b) (xii) : Details of manner of execution of subsidy program :
The Commission does not implement any subsidy program.

Under Section 4 (1)(b) (xii) : Details of beneficiaries of subsidy program from the Commission: Not Applicable

Under Section 4 (1)(b) (xiii) : Details of particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorization granted: NIL

Under section 4 (1)(b) (xiv) : Details of information held in electronic media: nil

Under section 4(1) (b) (xv) particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information etc. Public can visit the Commission office any time to obtain information on its functioning. . The Commission has not set up a library or a reading room. Officers of the Commission are available on phone and personally from 1000hrs to 1700 hrs on working days.

Under Section 4 (1)(b) (xvi) : Public Information Officers / Appellate Authority

Public Information Officer:

Shri L C Borah
Assam Information Commission
Janata Bhavan Dispur Guwahati
Phone 0361-2261676

Appellate Authority:
Dr. B K Gohain
State Information Commissioner
Janata Bhavan Dispur Guwahati
Email ID:birengohain@hotmail.com
Phone 0361 - 2262704