The centre has ordered government-run training institutes to carry out transparency audit of the information disclosed proactively on various government websites. The order applies to voluntarily disclosed information. The disclosure is under section 4(2) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
As per the order, each ministry or public authority or department should have their information audited by a third party each year. The purpose of the order is to reduce the use of transparency law or the RTI Act. The audit should also check the compliance made by the various departments as well as if there is any other information that requires disclosure.
The reports of the annual audit will be submitted to the Central Information Commission every year through publication on their websites.
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The job of carrying out the transparency audit would be of the respective training institutes under each ministry or department or public authority across the states and Union Territories. However, in a case where there is no training institute under a ministry or department, the transparency audit would be done by the government training institutes.
The order also directs the public authorities to disclose the names of third-party auditors on their websites. The public authorities should make provision for third-party audit using their plan and non-plan funds.
For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at sweta.dugar@cleartax.in
I am a Chartered Accountant by profession. I specialise in personal taxes and corporate income tax matters. I am an avid reader and track developments in financial markets, economy and other market developments.
