NEW DELHI: The central information commission is planning to rank the various departments and ministries under the Government of India according to their transparency record. "The ranking will be of all ministries under the Centre which have done suo moto disclosures. This information will help the departments do better, especially in terms of information being provided under section 4 of the RTI Act," said chief information commissioner R K Mathur Section 4 of the RTI Act, 2005, provides for proactive disclosure of information available with a department or ministry. According to Mathur, lakhs of complaints and appeals reach the CIC, which provides the commission with a record of the kind of information being searched for, and supplied by the various departments. It gives the commission a framework for the kind of information that should be disclosed proactively.It's the first time that such an exercise is being undertaken by the central information commission (CIC). The commission will not just rank the departments and ministries but also provide suggestions on what kind of information should be proactively disclosed, added Mathur. "We can advise them on areas which could be covered under proactive disclosure, as well as areas where more information could be provided," he said.The commission plans to come out with the ranking annually, added Mathur. Asked when it's likely to be unveiled, Mathur said, "Work on the ranking has already started. It should be available soon."With over 60 lakh RTIs being filed every year, a ranking or ease of getting information from various ministries and departments is going to go a long way in helping people, say RTI activists. Civil society in fact, has been demanding a framework or monitoring of the proactive disclosures being undertaken by various agencies of the government. National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI)'s Anjali Bhardwaj said, "A ranking will be very helpful. We would also want the commission to monitor the kind of information being provided".Bhardwaj pointed out that while proactive disclosure was an integral part of the RTI Act, it wasn't being implemented in spirit across all the departments of the government.