RTI: CIC asks DIPP to provide all information on expenditure on “Make in India” promotional events

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE Central Information Commission (the CIC) has asked the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to make available to an RTI applicant all information pertaining to the amount of money spent on “Make in India” promotional events during the period 2014 – 2016.

The CIC said the details of the expenditure must include information on the  list of events organised internationally under the “Make in India” initiative with the location, date and time, number of MOUs signed and the amount of funds promised for investment along with a list of the actual amounts actually invested, under both monthly and annually.

Neeraj Sharma, the RTI applicant, had filed an application on July 24, 2017 for information related to the “Make in India” promotion. However, he claimed the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) provided him with incomplete and misleading information after a delay of more than one and a half months.

During the hearing before the CIC, the CPIO, while regretting the delay, submitted that it was inadvertent and unintentional. She also submitted that the applicant’s first appeal, sent through e-mail October 31, 2017 appeared to have been overlooked and therefore was not disposed of.

After receipt of the CIC notice for hearing of the second appeal, the First Appellate Authority (FAA) in the DIPP informed the appellant on May 15, 2019 that the ‘Make in India’ initiative aimed to promote manufacturing and investment in 25 identified sectors. All the information in this regard, they said, was available on  www.makeinindia.com.

Information Commissioner Vanaja Sarna, after hearing both the parties,  suggested to the CPIO that collating all the information from the concerned ministries, rather than having the RTI applicant do it, would be useful to the government while assessing the impact of the initiative. Besides, she said, sharing details of the vision of the country would lead to more accountability and transparency.

Sarna then proceeded to direct the CPIO to provide a revised reply for the period 2014-2016 to the appellant within 15 days from the date of receipt of the order. “CPIO shall take assistance under section 5(4) of the RTI Act from the concerned officer of the concerned departments and provide the information within 30 days from the date of receipt of the order,” the Information Commissioner said.

While she found no malafide in the failure to give proper information, the CIC warned the CPIO that providing incorrect and incomplete replies could attract penal action u/s 20(1) and (2) of the RTI Act.

 

 

Read the Order

[pdfviewer]https://cdn.theleaflet.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/18175352/CIC-order_Make-in-India.pdf[/pdfviewer]