Punjab State Information Commission

The Government of Punjab constituted the Punjab State Information Commission on 11th October, 2005. Sh. Rajan Kashyap, IAS (Retd.), former Chief Secretary to Govt. Punjab was appointed Chief Information Commissioner, Punjab under Section 15 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 on the same day.

Chief Information Commissioner, Punjab :

Sh. Suresh Arora, IPS (Retd.), has been administered the oath of Chief Information Commissioner, Punjab under section 15 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 and joined the office on 10.07.2019 (AN). His term of office is upto 25.09.2023.

Qualification of CIC :- LLM (Master of Laws(University of London)); LL.B (Bachelor of Laws); Associate Member of Company Secretaries, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, New Delhi; Post Graduate Diploma in Office Organization and procedures Punjab University, Chd.; Bachelor of Commerce. Passed an online course on RTI Act, 2005 conducted by Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad.

Experience of CIC :- More than 36 year Experience as a Police Officer on various posts DGP Punjab, Additional Director General of Police, Inspector General of Police, Inspector General of Police-cum-Director, Deputy Inspector General of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police; Retired as Director General of Police, Punjab.
3 year experience of Public Information Officer (PIO) in Police Deptt.

Awards :- Police Medal for Gallantry; Prakaram Medal; Special Duty Police Medal; Police Medal for Meritorious Services; President Police Medal for Distinguished Services; DG's Commendation Disc

Former Chief Information Commissioner/s, Punjab

Conditions of Service of the Chief Information Commissioner/ State Information Commissioner.

The salary and allowances payable to and other terms & conditions of service of The State Chief Information Commissioner shall be the same as Central Election Commissioner and Judge of Supreme Court of India; The State Information Commissioner shall be the same as the Chief Secretary of the State.

Office

The main office of the Commission is located at Red Cross Building, Near Rose Garden, Sector 16, Chandigarh. It houses the office of the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioners namely Ms.Preety Chawla, Sh. Hem Inder Singh, Sh. Avtar Singh Kaler, Sh. Khushwant Singh, Sh. Sanjiv Garg, Sh. Asit Jolly and Lt Gen Ajae Kumar Sharma (Retd.),Sh. Anumit Singh Sodhi, Sh. Maninder Singh Patti and Sh. Amrit Partap Singh Sekhon with their personal staff and 4 court rooms.

Information Commissioners

The State Information Commissioners have been administered the oath of office by the Governer of Punjab i.e Sarv Sh/Smt/Dr.

Former State Information Commissioner/s Punjab

Secretary of the Commission

Sh. Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa, IAS assumed additional charge on 29-July-2020.

Former Secretary/s of Punjab State Information Commission

Powers and functions of Punjab State Information Commission attention is drawn to sections 18,19,20 & 25 of the RTI Act, 2005.

Staff and source of Appointment:-

From Government: (Three persons)

Secretary to Commission (1)
Secretary to CIC (1)

From Contract or Outsource:-

Deputy Registrar (1)
Personal Assistant (12)
Reader (11)
Senior Assistant (1)
Section Officer(1)
Accountant(1)
I.T. Professional (2)
Bill Clerk(1)
Receptionist (1)
Data Entry Operator (5)
Peon-cum-Messenger (1)
Peon(12)
Driver (11)

Legal Professional on Retainership (1)

Management of affairs of Punjab State Information Commission

Section 15(4) of the Act lays down that the general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the State Information Commission shall vest in the State Chief Information Commissioner who shall be assisted by the State Information Commissioners and may exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things which may be exercised or done by Punjab State Information Commission autonomously without being subjected to directions by any other authority under this Act.

Coordinating Department

Department of Governance Reforms is the Administrative Co-ordinating Department of the State Government in respect of the Commission.

Jurisidiction

All Public Authorities in the State of Punjab.

Objective

The Punjab State Information Commission is the statutory Commission for fulfilling the mandate assigned in the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Role of Punjab State Informration Commission as a Public Authority

Punjab State Information Commission exercises powers for implementation of RTI Act under Sections 18,19,20 and 25. At the same time Punjab State Information Commission is itself a Public Authority as defined in section 2(h) of RTI Act, 2005.

Section 4 describes the obligations of public authority under the Act as below:-

"Section 4.

1. Every public authority shall—
   
   1. maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerised are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerised and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated;
   2. publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,—
      
      1. the par ticulars of its organisation, functions and duties;
      2. the powers and duties of its officers and employees;
      3. the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability;
      4. the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;
      5. the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions;
      6. a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control;
      7. 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;
      8. 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;
      9. a directory of its officers and employees;
      10. the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;
      11. the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;
      12. the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes;
      13. particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it;
      14. details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;
      15. 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;
      16. the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers;
      17. such other information as may be prescribed; and thereafter update these publications every year
   3. publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect public;
   4. provide reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons.
2. It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps in accordance with the requirements of clause (b) of sub-section (1) to provide as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.
3. For the purposes of sub-section (1), every information shall be disseminated widely and in such form and manner which is easily accessible to the public.
4. All materials shall be disseminated taking into consideration the cost effectiveness, local language and the most effective method of communication in that local area and the information should be easily accessible, to the extent possible in electronic format with the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, available free or at such cost of the medium or the print cost price as may be prescribed.

Explanation.— For the purposes of sub-sections (3) and (4), "disseminated" means making known or communicated the information to the public through notice boards, newspapers, public announcements, media broadcasts, the internet or any other means, including inspection of offices of any public authority. "