Punjab Public Management Reforms Program

THE PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION
ACT 2013
(XXV OF 2013)
CONTENTS
1. Short title, extent and commencement
2. Definitions
3. Access to information
4. Proactive disclosure
5. Punjab Information Commission
6. Functions of the Commission
7. Designation of public information officers
8. Maintenance and indexing of information
9. Annual report of public bodies
10. Application procedure
11. Transfer of application
12. Internal review
13. Exceptions
14. Allocation of funds
15. Penalty on public information officer
16. Offence
17. Cognizance of offence under this Act
18. Bar of suits etc
19. Power to make rules
20. Power to frame regulations
21. Power to remove difficulties
22. Interpretation
23. Indemnity
24. Act to take precedence over other laws
25. Repeal
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TEXT
THE PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2013
(XXV OF 2013)
[16th December, 2013]
An
Act
to provide for transparency and freedom of information in the Punjab.
Preamble.– Whereas it is expedient to provide for transparency and freedom of
information to ensure that citizens have improved access to public information; to make the
Government more accountable to citizens; to enforce the fundamental right of access to
information in all matters of public importance; and, to provide for ancillary matters;
It is enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement.– (1) This Act may be cited as the
Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013.
(2) It extends to the whole of the Punjab.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.– In this Act–
(a) “applicant” means a citizen of Pakistan or a legal person registered or
incorporated in Pakistan, seeking information under this Act and includes a
person authorized on behalf of the legal person;
(b) “Commission” means Punjab Information Commission established under
this Act;
(c) “Commissioner” means an Information Commissioner and includes the
Chief Information Commissioner;
(d) “complaint” means a complaint made, in writing, to the Commission by an
applicant on one or more of the following grounds:-
(i) wrongful denial of access to information;
(ii) non provision of information within the stipulated time;
(iii) refusal to receive and process the request from an applicant;
(iv) furnishing false, misleading or incomplete information;
(v) charging fee or cost for provision of information in excess of the
requisite fee;
(vi) deliberate destruction of information to avoid its disclosure;
(vii) failure of a public body to implement the provisions regarding
proactive disclosure; or
(viii) violation of any other provision of the Act by a public body;
(e) “Government” means Government of the Punjab;
(f) “information” means any information held by a public body and includes any
memo, book, design, map, contract, representation, pamphlet, brochure,
order, notification, document, plans, letter, report, accounts statement, project
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proposal, photograph, audio, video, drawing, film, any instrument prepared
through electronic process, machine-readable documents and any other
documentary material regardless of its physical form or characteristics;
(g) “prescribed” means prescribed by the rules or regulations made under the
Act;
(h) “public body” means–
(i) a department, attached department, autonomous or semiautonomous body
of the Government, a company of the Government or a special institution;
(ii) a local government constituted under the Punjab Local Government Act
2013 (XVIII of 2013) or any other law for the time being in force;
(iii) Secretariat of Governor of the Punjab;
(iv) any court, tribunal, office, Board, Commission, Council, or other body
substantially financed by the Government;
(v) Provincial Assembly of the Punjab;
(vi) statutory body established under a provincial law; and
(vii) a non-government organization substantially financed by the Government
or a local government;
(i) “public information officer” means a public information officer
designated under section 7 of the Act; and
(j) “right to information” means the right to obtain information accessible under
the Act and includes the right to–
(i) inspect any work or document;
(ii) take notes, extracts or certified copy of a document;
(iii) take certified sample of any material; and
(iv) obtain copy of information in electronic form.
3. Access to information.– Subject to the provisions of this Act, an applicant may,
in the prescribed manner, exercise the right to information.
4. Proactive disclosure.– Subject to the provisions of this Act, a public body shall
proactively disclose–
(a) particulars of the public body, its functions and duties;
(b) powers and functions of its officers and employees;
(c) norms and criteria set by the public body for the discharge of its functions;
(d) Acts, Ordinances, rules, regulations, notifications, circulars and other legal
instruments being enforced, issued or used by the public body in the
discharge of its functions;
(e) a statement of categories of information being held by the public body;
(f) a description of its decision-making processes and any opportunities for the
public to provide input into or be consulted about decisions;
(g) a directory of its officers and employees with their respective remuneration,
perks and privileges;
(h) budget of the public body including details of all proposed and actual
expenditures;
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(i) amount of subsidy and details of beneficiaries if the public body provides
any subsidy;
(j) particulars of the recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations
granted by the public body;
(k) facilities available with the public body for obtaining information held by it;
(l) name, designation and other particulars of the public information officer of
the public body; and
(m) any other information that the Government may notify in the official Gazette.
5. Punjab Information Commission.– (1) The Government shall establish a
Commission, to be called ‘Punjab Information Commission’.
(2) The Commission shall consist of not more than three Information
Commissioners to be appointed from amongst the following:-
(a) a person who has been or is qualified to be a Judge of the High Court;
(b) a person who is or has been in the service of Pakistan in basic scale 21 or
equivalent; and
(c) a person from civil society having a degree based on sixteen years of
education from a recognized institution and experience of not less than
fifteen years in the field of mass communication, academic or right to
information.
(3) The Government shall, on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed
and until so prescribed as are determined by the Government, appoint the
Commissioners.
(4) The Government shall nominate one of the Commissioners as Chief
Information Commissioner who shall be the chief executive of the Commission.
(5) No person shall be appointed as Commissioner if he is more than sixty-five
years of age on the date of appointment.
(6) A Commissioner shall hold office for a non-renewable term of three years.
(7) A Commissioner shall not hold any other public office or any other office of
profit or be connected with any political party and shall not engage himself in any
business or profession during the period he holds office of the Commissioner.
(8) Subject to subsections (9), (10) and (11), a Commissioner shall be liable to
removal on grounds of misconduct or physical or mental incapacity.
(9) Before removing a Commissioner, the Government shall communicate the
charges to the Commissioner and afford him reasonable opportunity to explain his position.
(10) If the Government is not satisfied with the defence offered, it may refer the
case to Provincial Assembly of the Punjab for an open enquiry by a Special Committee to
be constituted by the Provincial Assembly.
(11) If the Committee finds the Commissioner guilty of any of the charges
mentioned in subsection (8), the Government shall remove the Commissioner.
(12) If Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is dissolved and the situation
mentioned in subsection (8) has arisen, the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly shall
constitute a special committee and such special committee may exercise the powers of
special committee of the Provincial Assembly until the election of the new Provincial
Assembly.
6. Functions of the Commission.– (1) The Commission may–
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(a) conduct an inquiry, on its own accord or on a complaint, and may direct a
public body to disclose information to an applicant or in a proactive manner;
(b) determine the public interest in terms of section 13;
(c) resolve any inconsistencies in the application of the provisions of this Act or
the rules or regulations.
(2) The Commission shall decide a complaint within thirty days of its receipt or,
for good reasons to be recorded in writing, within sixty days.
(3) The Commission may exercise the powers of a civil court to–
(a) summon and enforce attendance of persons, compel them to give
oral or written evidence on oath and to produce documents or
information;
(b) examine and inspect information;
(c) receive evidence on affidavits;
(d) requisition information from any office; and
(e) issue summons for witnesses or documents.
(4) While inquiring into a complaint, the Commission or any person authorized
by the Commission, may examine any information on spot.
(5) The Commission shall facilitate the application of the provisions of this Act and
may–
(a) issue directives to public bodies for preservation, management,
publication, publicity and access to information;
(b) prescribe the procedure for accessing information from a public
body;
(c) advise and provide support to the Government to make necessary
laws and procedures for implementation of the right to information;
(d) provide technical and other support to the public bodies for effective
enforcement of right to information;
(e) conduct training of the public information officers;
(f) undertake mass awareness campaign to create awareness about the
Act, rules and regulations;
(g) establish an information web-portal;
(h) compile a user handbook in Urdu and English, containing such
information in easily comprehensible form and manner, as many
reasonably be required by an applicant; and
(i) compile guidelines for use by the public information officers.
(6) The Commission shall prepare an annual report on the implementation of the
provisions of this Act during a financial year and submit it to the Government by 31 August
and the Government shall lay the report before Provincial Assembly of the Punjab.
(7) The annual report of the Commission shall, in particular, contain the
following information:-
(a) status of right to information law, rules, regulations and procedures;
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(b) progress on implementation of the freedom of information law,
including district and department-wise summaries of information
requests showing current status of each information request;
(c) hurdles being faced in the implementation of freedom of information
law; and
(d) budget, expenses and other organizational matters.
7. Designation of public information officers.– (1) A public body shall, within sixty
days of the commencement of this Act, designate and notify as many officers as public
information officers in all administrative units or offices under it, as may be necessary.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a public information officer shall
provide information to an applicant, and shall perform such other functions as may be
prescribed to achieve the purpose of this Act.
(3) The public information officer may seek necessary assistance of any other
officer of the public body.
(4) Any officer whose assistance has been sought under subsection (3) shall
render all assistance to the public information officer seeking his assistance and for
purposes of any contravention of the provisions of this Act, such other officer shall be
deemed as public information officer.
8. Maintenance and indexing of information.– (1) Subject to provisions of this Act
and the rules or regulations, a public body shall maintain information relating to the body
in an easily accessible form.
(2) A public body shall, within the time prescribed by the Commission for any
special or general categories of information, computerize or maintain in electronic form
the information to enable–
(a) easy retrieval of information; and
(b) easy and authorized electronic access of information by an applicant.
9. Annual report of public bodies.– A public body shall publish in electronic form or
otherwise an annual report of its activities under this Act during the previous financial
year by 31 August each year in such manner as may be prescribed and make the report
available for public inspection free of charge and for purchase at a reasonable cost.
10. Application procedure.– (1) An applicant may make an application to a public
information officer on an information request form or on plain paper and the public
information officer shall acknowledge receipt of the application.
(2) A public body shall make easily available to the public the information
request form both in printed and electronic form.
(3) An applicant shall not be required to provide reasons for request for
information and shall only be required to provide an adequate description of the
information and the details necessary to provide the requisite information.
(4) Where an applicant is having difficulty making a request, including because he
cannot describe the information in sufficient detail or because he is disabled or illiterate, the
concerned public information officer shall provide reasonable assistance to the applicant.
(5) Where an applicant has indicated a preferred form of access, including a
physical copy, an electronic copy or an opportunity to inspect documents, the public body
shall provide access in that form unless doing so is likely to interfere with its operations or
harm the document and in that case the information shall be provided in such form as
may serve the purpose.
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(6) The public body shall not charge any fee for making a request other than
cost of reproducing or sending the information in accordance with a centrally set
schedule of costs stipulated by the Commission.
(7) The public information officer shall respond to an application as soon as
possible and in any case within fourteen working days, provided that this may be
extended by a maximum of a further fourteen working days where this is necessary,
including because the request requires a search through a large number of records or
consultation with a third party or any other public body, but the public information officer
shall provide the information relating to life or liberty of a person within two working days
of the receipt of the application.
(8) Where the public information officer decides not to provide the information,
he shall intimate to the applicant the reasons for such decision along with a statement that
the applicant may file an internal review or a complaint against the refusal under this Act.
(9) The information from, or the copy of, any public record supplied to the
applicant under subsection (1) shall contain a certificate at the foot thereof that the
information is correct or the copy is a true copy of such public record, and such certificate
shall be dated, signed and stamped by the public information officer.
11. Transfer of application.– (1) Where an officer of a public body other than the
concerned public information officer receives an application for access to information,
such officer shall immediately transfer the application to the concerned public information
officer under intimation to the applicant and the public information officer shall process
the application as if he had received it under section 10.
(2) If the information or part of the information requested in an application is not
available with the public body or the office of the public body, the public information
officer shall, within seven days and under intimation to the applicant, transfer the
application to the public information officer to whom the application should have been
made for provision of the information or part of the information.
(3) If the public information officer does not know the public body or the office
where the requested information or part of the information may be available, he shall
inform the applicant that the requested information or part of the information is not
available with the public body.
(4) If an application is transferred to another public information officer under
subsection (2), the other public information officer shall process the application as if the
other public information officer received the application under section 10.
12. Internal review.– (1) If an applicant does not file a complaint with the
Commission, he may request the head of the public body for internal review of any
decision of the public information officer in relation to what the applicant regards as
involving–
(a) a failure by the public information officer to comply with any provision of this
Act including failure to communicate decision within the specified time; or
(b) unreasonable behaviour by the public information officer in the exercise of
any discretion under the Act; or
(c) provision of incomplete, misleading or false information under the Act; or
(d) any other matter relating to requesting or obtaining access to information.
(2) An applicant shall, within sixty days from the date of communication of the
decision of the public information officer or failure of the public information officer to
provide information within the stipulated time, submit a request, in writing, under
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subsection (1) and specify remedy which the applicant seeks against the decision of the
public information officer.
(3) The officer before whom an application for internal review is filed under this
section may exercise any of the powers of the public information officer under this Act
and shall, within fourteen days of the receipt of the application–
(a) confirm, modify or reverse the decision of the public information
officer;
(b) notify the decision of internal review to the applicant including
reasons for the decision; and
(c) order departmental action against the public information officer if
found negligent in performance of duties under this Act.
13. Exceptions.– (1) A public information officer may refuse an application for access
to information where disclosure of the information shall or is likely to cause harm to–
(a) national defence or security, public order or international relations of
Pakistan;
(b) a legitimate privacy interest, unless the person concerned has consented to
disclosure of the information;
(c) the protection of legally privileged information or of the rules relating to
breach of confidence;
(d) the legitimate commercial interests of a public body or a third party,
including information subject to third party intellectual property rights;
(e) the life, health or safety of any person;
(f) the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of
offenders, or the administration of justice;
(g) the ability of the Government to manage the economy; or
(h) the effective formulation of or success of a policy either by its premature
disclosure or by restraining the free and frank provision of advice within the
Government.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (1), if the Commission
determines that the public interest in such disclosure outweighs the harm that shall or is
likely to be caused by such disclosure, it may direct the public information officer to
provide the information.
(3) Where a part of a document is covered by an exception in subsection (1),
any information in the document which is not covered by an exception shall be disclosed
if it is reasonably severable from the rest of the document.
(4) Where the information is refused, the public information officer shall, within
the time-limit specified under section 10, inform the applicant specifying–
(a) the reasons on account of which and the provision of this Act under
which the requested information is refused;
(b) procedure for internal review or complaint against the decision; and
(c) name and designation of the person who may provide full or limited
access to the exempted information.
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, any information
mentioned in subsection (1) may be disclosed by a public information officer if the
information is more than fifty years old but the Commission may, in an appropriate case
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on application of a public body or otherwise, extend this time period of fifty years to a
further twenty years.
14. Allocation of funds.– The Government shall allocate adequate funds to the
Commission to enable it to establish a secretariat, hire the requisite staff to conduct its
business properly, and promote access to information among the public, public servants
and civil society.
15. Penalty on public information officer.– Where a public information officer has,
without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application, has not furnished
information within time limits, or malafidely denied the request or knowingly gave
incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, the Commission may, after providing
sufficient opportunity of defense to the public information officer, direct the public
information officer to pay fine not exceeding two days’ salary for each day of delay or to
pay fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
16. Offence.– In addition to any other action under any other law, any person who
destroys a record which at the time it was destroyed was the subject of an application for
access to information, internal review or complaint, or otherwise obstructs access to
information which is the subject of an application, internal review or complaint, with the
intention of preventing its disclosure under this Act, commits an offence punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which shall not be
less than ten thousand rupees or with both.
17. Cognizance of offence under this Act.– A court shall not take cognizance of the
offence punishable under section 16 of this Act except on a report in writing of the facts
constituting such offence made with the previous sanction of the Commission or an
officer authorized by the Commission.
18. Bar of suits etc.– A court shall not entertain a suit, application or other
proceeding in respect of any decision made under this Act and the decision shall not be
called in question otherwise than by way of an internal review or a complaint under the
Act.
19. Power to make rules.– (1) The Government, in consultation with the Commission
and by notification in the official Gazette, may make rules for carrying out the purposes of
this Act.
(2) The rules shall also provide elaboration of the following provisions of this
Act:-
(a) procedure for proper maintenance, indexing and storage of
information, including details of information to be published in an
electronic form;
(b) procedure for filing of request for information and a schedule of the
costs for providing the information;
(c) handling and internal review mechanisms;
(d) information that shall be included in the annual report of each public
body;
(e) procedure for publishing, displaying and obtaining the annual report;
(f) designation of public information officers, and if required, any other
official delegates, and their duties and responsibilities;
(g) procedure for removal of a Commissioner, including definition of
misconduct;
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(h) finances, budgeting and staffing related to the Commission and its
secretariat;
(i) responsibilities of Commissioners, mechanism for taking decisions,
quorum requirements and procedures in case of non-availability of
one or more Commissioners;
(j) provisions regarding imposition of penalties or fines; and
(k) any fees that may be charged by a public body in carrying out the
provisions of this Act.
20. Power to frame regulations.– Subject to this Act and the rules, the Commission
may, by notification, frame regulations to give effect to the provisions of the Act and the rules.
21. Power to remove difficulties.– If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the
provisions of this Act, the Government may, by order in the official Gazette, make such
provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary
or expedient for removing the difficulty.
22. Interpretation.– This Act, the rules and regulations shall be interpreted so as to
advance the purposes of this Act and to facilitate and encourage, promptly and at the
lowest reasonable cost, the disclosure of information and effective implementation of right
to information.
23. Indemnity.– No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any
person for anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done in pursuance of
this Act or any rules or regulations made under the Act.
24. Act to take precedence over other laws.– (1) The provisions of this Act shall
take precedence over the provisions of any other law.
(2) An exception mentioned in section 13 shall take precedence and any
exception or limitation in any other law on right to information may not be construed to
extend the scope of the exception in this Act, although such provision in other law may
elaborate on the exception mentioned in section 13.
25. Repeal.– The Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Ordinance (IV of
2013) is hereby repealed.

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Punjab Jobs & Competitiveness Program for Results (J&C)
Government of the Punjab, Planning and Development Department (P&DD), in collaboration with the World Bank Group has launched Punjab Jobs & Competitiveness (J&C) Program to improve the investment climate and promote investments and jobs in more inclusive and sustainable industrial estates in Punjab. J&C is a flagship Program of the Government of Punjab with a total funding of USD 100 million over five years in a budgetary support form. The Program has been linked with achievement of agreed Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) to be implemented by multiple Implementing Agencies/Departments.

Result Areas
The two result areas are discussed briefly below:
1. Investment Climate Reforms
The Program will support reforms to reduce the cost and risks of doing business, improve laws affecting labor, in particular to facilitate women’s employment, and promote investments by foreign investors:
Key objectives include:
Image ViewReduction in the cost and risks of doing business.
Image ViewCompliance with GSP+ labor conventions.
Image ViewImproved investment promotion.
2. Spatial Development
Key objectives include:
The Program will support the upgrading and development of industrial infrastructure through a private sector-led competitive process informed by the Punjab Spatial Strategy. The Program will also facilitate access to world class knowledge to high growth potential industrial clusters:
Image ViewImproved public investment process to support industrial and urban development.
Image ViewImproved support to industrial infrastructure through Public Private Partnerships.
Image ViewNew institutional set up to support industrial estates and clusters.

Interventions
The key interventions under this Program are as follows:
1. Improvement in aggregate doing business performance for Punjab in four doing business indicators which include business registration, property registration, construction permits and contract enforcement.
Web Link: www.doingbusiness.org
2. Improve compliance with GSP+ labor conventions.
3. Investment promotion related activities i.e. investor outreach plans, investor database and announcements etc.
4. Development of Spatial Strategy to help prioritize public infrastructure investments, institutional development.
5. Promote private sector led industrial estates and sustainable CETPs.
6. Institutional Development to improve public support to industrial clusters.

Doing Business - Measuring Business Regulations - World Bank Group The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations for local firms in 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational level.

Overview
Punjab Resource Management Program is a policy and governance reform program of Government of the Punjab. PMU, PRMP will aim to ensure continuity of reform process in an efficient and effective manner, through replication and next generation reform initiatives in Government of Punjab. As of 2013, the PMU, PRMP will provide support to Government of Punjab for implementation of the Punjab Public Management Reform Program to be funded by the World Bank and Sub–National Governance Program of Department for International Development (DFID).

PMU, PRMP also provides a platform to PPRA for an ongoing research experiment "Evidenced Based Procurement Reform" in selected departments of Government of Punjab. PRMP has collaborated with research team of the leading international academic institutions and a capacity building program of officers in the Punjab Government.

The PMU is being administered by the Planning and Development Department, Government of Punjab. The parent department, is the principal planning organization at the provincial level coordinating and monitoring development programs and activities of various inter-government departments. The department also prepares an overall medium term development framework of development activities across Punjab. The medium term development framework lays down the development activities to be carried out in the province in various sectors of the provincial economy. In this manner the planning & development department is one of the main actors in the growth of the economic potential of the province.

The mandate of P&D department includes, provision of technical support and coordination to various Government departments in their planning activities. It is also the main government agency working with foreign donors in the province.