Public Information Officer, Ministry of Science and Technology is directed to share with the Appellant the requested information about the current status of the availability of the following information on its web site within 7 working days of the receipt of this Order. Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology is directed to submit compliance report to the commission describing current availability status of the following information on the web site as well as time-frame for publication of each missing information/record on web site within 7 working days of the receipt of this Order:
- directory of the officers of the public body, containing information about total sanctioned posts, filled/vacant posts, responsibilities of officers and information about its functions and services provided by the public body;
- Act and the Rules of the public body, its regulations, bye-laws, orders and notifications;
- manuals and policies of the public body;
- relevant facts and background information relating to important policies and decisions undertaken by a public body;
- statement of policies adopted by the public body;
- criteria, standards or guidelines under which officers of the public body exercise their discretionary powers;
- terms and conditions for acquiring any license, permit, consent, approval, grant, allotment or other benefits;
- terms and conditions for all kinds of agreements and contracts;
- particulars about the recipients of any concession, permit, license or authorization granted by the public body;
- information about decision making processes of the public body and information about how citizens can provide their input to the public body;
- Detailed budget of the public body; including proposed and actual expenditures, original or revised revenue targets, actual revenue, receipts, revision in the approved budget and the supplementary budget;
- The methods for seeking information from the public body;
- Schedule of costs, developed by Pakistan Information Commission, (available on the commission’s web site) for seeking information from federal public bodies;
- name, title, E-mail and telephone number of the Public Information Officer notified under the Right of Access to Information Act 2017;
performance reports, audit reports, evaluation reports, inquiry or investigative reports and other reports that have been finalized.
The commission observed that under staffing of officers is a perennial problem faced by public bodies. However, this issue does not get public attention it deserves. If a ministry keeps updated diary of its officers on its web site, citizens would know about total number of sanctioned posts and the details about sanctioned posts filled and lying vacant. This critical issue of under-staffing is not going to get public attention if this information is not brought in the public domain through proactive disclosure of directory of officers through web sites.
The commission was of the view that it is common knowledge that citizens face multiple barriers because of the lack of information about services being provided by a public body. For example, if particular sub-section about proactive disclosure of information is implemented, citizens would know about terms and conditions for acquiring any license, permit, consent, approval, grant, allotment or other benefits offered by a ministry.