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Ward-level management, duty to publish all information as opposed to the right to information, fund-based accounting and performance budgeting are suggested to achieve good and clean governance at city, state and national level.

Campaign for DTP (Duty to Publish)

Duty to Publish v/s Right to Information :The UPA government introduced the Right to Information Bill 2004 in the Lok Sabha. It has now been referred to the Standing Committee of Parliament on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. The committee invited comments on the bill from various civil society organizations. Centre for Civil Society has, from the beginning, stressed on the importance of the ‘Duty to Publish’ (DTP) approach, thereby, putting the onus of dissemination of information on the government. CCS sent its views to the chairman of the Standing Committee to review the bill, in an attempt to change the debate from what the government should reveal to what it can keep secret. DTP has received wide media attention including Times of India, India Express and business magazines.

Extract

“The DTP approach has many advantages over the current RTI approach of DTF (duty to furnish). First and foremost, it would change the debate from what the government should reveal to what it can keep secret. Instead of deciding on a case-by-case basis, as it does today, the government would need to develop general guidelines that determine what information can be kept out of the public domain. This fundamental restructuring of the debate—from what should be revealed to what can be kept secret—would strengthen the hands of citizens far more than any severe penalty clause in the Bill.”

Summary of CCS’ main suggestions to the Administrative Reforms Commission’s RTI Questionnaire and for the Chief Information Commissioner’s Annual Report
Submission to DOPT, July 2005 (pdf)

The Right to Information Bill, 2004 (pdf)
Cover Letter to Parliamentary Standing Committee (pdf)
Submission to Parliamentary Standing Committee (pdf)
Suggestions on RTI by clause (pdf)