New Delhi, Jan 23 (KNN) The government has formulated guidelines to provide for a third party audit by the public authorities of the proactive disclosures to assess their level of compliance with these guidelines.

The government earlier issued detailed guidelines to central ministries and departments for proactive disclosure under section 4 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act on April 15, 2013, according to a notification from Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

State governments have also been requested to consider issuing similar guidelines, along with templates for disclosure at various levels, for better implementation of suo motu disclosure at state level.

Out of 33,922 appeals or complaints, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has disposed of 23,112 appeals during 2011-2012.

The figure of appeals received and disposed of for 2010-11 are 28875 and 24071 and for 2009-10 are 22800 and 19482 respectively.

The enactment of the RTI Act, 2005, as a comprehensive legislation, marks a benchmark in transparency and accountability in the government with its objective of an informed citizenry for effective democracy.

The Act is comprehensive and covers disclosure of information on almost all matters of governance. It is applicable to government at all levels-union, state and local and also to the bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed directly or indirectly by the government. It covers all legislative bodies, the judiciary, the executive and all Constitutional bodies. (KNN/ST)