| Important Features | Orissa Civil Society RTI Bill | Orissa Govt. RTI Bill | Central FOI Bill | Comparative Analysis | Recommendation |
| Inclusion of Private bodies | Individual/organization executing public work/service on behalf of govt. or authorized by it. | Similar inclusion, but obligation to disclose info. limited to utilization of public funds. | No Provision | Only Goa is the other law with this type of inclusion. | This is good provision and encouraging sign |
| Fee Structure | Fee Charged shall no exceed the cost of photocopying or the cost of the diskette, cassette, etc. | Application fee and access fee are separate. No upper limit prescribed in either case. No waiver provided for and commercial and personal information to be charged separate | S. 7. No upper limit prescribed. Just says; 'to be prescribed' | Generally put in the Indian laws as processing and making available the information (Goa, Mah, Delhi, etc.). | None of the Acts mention that the fees must be reasonable and subject to waiver where it will cause financial hardship/or where information is in public interest. This must be included in the Orissa Bill. |
| Exemptions | Information related to sovereignty and integrity of India, security, international relations, invasion of privacy (subject to public interest), priviledge of Parliament/LA, danger to life or physical safety of person, source of confidential information, etc. are all exempted. | Similar exclusions, but with more categories like, Centre-State relations, trade and commercial secrets, etc. | S. 8 & 9. Similar exclusions and additional exclusions where info. is already available in official gazette. | Most of the Acts in India have many more exemptions-even to the point of nullifying the purpose of the Act itself. Eg., Tamil Nadu has the most no. of exemptions (above 20 categories) | The Orissa Bills do have a minimal list of exemptions. But exemptions relating to trade secrets of corporates must be subject to public interest, environment, public health and public life and exposure of corruption. |
| Suo-Motu Disclosure | This is mentioned as obligations on the Competent authority: forewarning about natural man-made disaster, disaster preparedness, rescue and rehab, etc., info. about schemes/projects, info. life, liberty and human rights-esp. persons in custodial institutions. | Very weak section in the proposed Bill. Only covers notification of schemes and projects. | S. 4. Similar to Orissa Govt. Bill. Weak provisions leaving wide discretionary scope for non-disclosure. | Some of the Acts in India don't provide for suo-motu disclosure (Goa, Tamil Nadu). And the others generally provide for information related to the structure, powers, duties, schemes, etc. of the government departments/authorities. | There is no specific mention of the info. Relating to structure, powers, duties, facilities provided for accessing info. etc., that must be included in the suo-motu disclosures. Inclusions in civil society bill are appreciated and commendable, esp relating to human rights and custodial institutions. |
| Urgent Requests | The information has to be given/refused within 24 hrs of the request | Info. Relates to life and liberty to be given/refused within 48 hrs. | No Provision | The general position of the other laws-don't provide for urgent request, except for Goa-prescribes for 48 hrs | This provision is good and should be pursued. |
| Time Limit | Within 15 days of the receipt of the request | As soon as practicable, and within 30 days maximum | S. 7. 30 working days | Generally the time limit given is 30 days. | This is also a step forward from the other laws. |
| Appeals | Single appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal | Two stage appeal. 1st internal appeal to higher authority:2nd appeal to the Lok Pal. | S. 15. Two stage appeal. Both to internal administrative authorities to be prescribed. Very weak provision. | Appeal procedures vary in other laws-single appeal to state admin tribunals (Goa), second appeal to State admin Tribunal (Kar), internal appeals (Tamil Nadu, Central Bill), independent authority such as the Public Grievances Commission (New Delhi) | The State Admin Tribunal and Lok Pal are both independent bodies. A reasonable time frame for disposal is essential. |
| Penalties | Complete responsibility on the Competent Authority for delaying or willfully providing wrong/false info. Investigation to be done by State Vigilance Commission. Rs. 200 per day of delay beyond the deadline. | Any person responsible for providing info is personally responsible, disciplinary action for delay or false info. Rs. 200 per day for delay may be imposed. | No Provision | Most other laws also prescribe internal disciplinary action with a maximum amount of fine imposable. For example, Goa-Rs. 100 per day, Kar-Rs.2000. some states like T.N, Mah, Central Bill, don't provide for penalities at all. | From experience it is becoming clear that enforcement of penalty is a problem. New Mah Bill it is being suggested that the Appellate authority should decide and impose the fine while deciding the appeal itself. Also, personal responsibility should be expanded to all personnel as is reflected in the Govt. Bill. |
| Monitoring/ Regulatory Body | State Council for Right to Information-independent representative body includes; bureaucrats, legislators, media, NGO's, etc. | Same composition as in the civil society Bill. | No Provision | Very few state laws on RTI in India have a monitoring body like this (only Delhi and Goa) | This is a step forward and will ensure the proper implementation and improvement of the law. To give the body more bite, some one like the Chief Minister ought to be made the chairman of the body, like in Delhi. |
| Means of Communication | Oriya and if not then English and Hindi. For disclosure of disaster related information-all means of public communication. | Info to be given in Oriya, if not then in English or Hindi | No Provision | Most other states do not provide for such elaborate means of communications in their respective Acts. | The drafted provision in civil society bill is meaningful in relation to be disaster info. A small addition with respect to the giving of information in the preferred form as originally requested. |
| Publicity of the Act | No provision for this has been provided in the Bill | No provision | No Provision | Other Acts of the country also lack this small but important aspect of the RTI law. | There must be a broad mechanism for wider publicity of the Act, so that citizen's are aware and can use the Act as they need to. Suggestion: the State Council fir RTI can take the charge for disseminating easy to read guides on the Act and its procedure and circulate them widely. |
| Training and sensitization of Government personnel | State Council has advisory function asking Govt. to undertake training to enable the personnel to implement the law properly. | State Council has similar role in this Bill | No Provision | Very few state laws have a similar provision (Delhi). | There must be stronger obligations identified on government to engage in sensitization and training of its personnel for proper implementation of this law. |