Govt refuses to share details of meetings of GoM on corruption

The Centre has declined to share details including date and minute of meetings of a Group of Ministers (GoM), formed to identify ways to tackle corruption, saying it is exempted under the RTI Act.
"Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the council of ministers are exempt from disclosure in terms of Section 8 (1) (i) of the RTI Act," the Cabinet Secretariat said in reply to an RTI query.
The section bars disclosure of cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the council of ministers, secretaries and other officers.
The decisions of council of ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public only after the decision has been taken and the matter is complete, or over, the section reads further.

The Cabinet Secretariat was asked to provide information information on the GoM including date of meetings held, minute of those deliberations and next date of sitting of the GoM.
The Group of Ministers was formed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 6, 2011 to consider measures that can be taken by the government to tackle corruption.

The GoM was mandated to advise the government on matters including state funding of elections, fast tracking of all cases of public servants accused of corruption, ensuring full transparency in public procurement and contracts and introduction of an open and competitive system of exploiting natural resources, among others.

Acting on one of the recommendations of the GoM, the government has already done away with various discretionary powers enjoyed by ministers. It included discretionary allotment of gas pumps and issue of gas coupons besides discretionary funds at the hands of some ministries like Social Welfare.
There are still some ministries left which are yet to form guidelines to check discretionary powers enjoyed by their ministers.
The GoM, which was mandated to give its recommendation within 60 days of its constitution, has not yet completed its work. The GoMs tenure was also extended on many occasions.
The Centre had on July 17, 2012 removed any time limit from the GoM to complete its work. "The GoM will remain functional till the completion of the assigned mandate," the Cabinet Secretariat said in an order.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Petroleum and Natrural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily, Law Minister Kapil Sibal and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Praful Patel are members of the GoM.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, V Narayanasamy is a special invitee to the group.