Right to Information

State Level RTI: Assam

Law

Assam was until recently the only state in the North East which had enacted right to information legislation. The passage of the Assam Right to Information Act 2002 came as a surprise to most. The State Act was brought in so quietly that there was hardly any discussion on its content.

In any case, in May 2005, the national Right to Information Act 2005 was passed by Parliament. The RTI Act 2005 received Presidential assent on 15 June and came fully into force on 12 October 2005. (For more information on the passage of the Act and implementation at the national level, click here.) The RTI Act 2005 covers all Central, State and local government bodies and will apply to public authorities in Assam.

It is not clear at this time whether the Assam RTI Act will be repealed to make way for the national RTI Act. The Assam Government has started implementing the RTI Act 2005. The Government has issued Assam Right to Information Fee Rules, 2005.

For a list of Public Information Officers and Appellate Authorities designated by the State Government, click here.

Details of Fee & Costs

Second Appeals and complaints against non-disclosure of information may be filed with the Assam State Information Commission.

State Information Commission

Newsupdates, Advocacy & Activities

• The North East Network (NEN) in collaboration with CHRI organised a Workshop on the new Right to Information Act 2005 for the North Eastern States of India in Guwahati from 23-24 August 2005. The Workshop Report highlights the key sessions and discussions that took place at the workshop.

Resources & Articles

Government

• Right to Information Act 2005 (English)
• Right to Information Act 2005 (Hindi)
• Assam Right to Information Rules, 2005
• Assam Right to Information Act 2002
• Assam Right to Information Rules 2004
• Assam Administrative Reforms Commission Report 2005

CHRI

• CHRI (2005) Report of Workshop on Right to Information for the North Eastern States of India, Guwahati, 23-24 August.
• CHRI (2005) Forwarding Information Requests and Appeals: A Step by Step Guide for Assistant Public Information Officers under the Right to Information Act 2005, prepared by Mr Venkatesh Nayak.
• CHRI (2005) Processing Information Requests: A Step by Step Guide for Assistant Public Information Officers under the Right to Information Act 2005, prepared by Mr Venkatesh Nayak.

Miscellaneous

• Barun Das Gupta (2001) Assam Plans Right to Information Bill, 29 August, The Hindu.

Links

• Government of Assam
• Assam Information Commission
• Government of India (DOPT)
• National Campaign on People's Right to Information (NCPRI)
• Right to Information - Collection of RTI stories, articles, etc.
• Info Change - Right to Information Pages
• India Together - Right to Information Pages