Many of us often remark cynically what government departments actually do. Since they operate using public funds, one would expect that their activities, performance, and plans are regularly shared with the public. In fact, the government’s own rules require exactly that.

The Rule 25(2) of the Rules of Business, 1973 mandates that every federal government division must annually prepare and publish on its website a Year Book containing unclassified information about its activities, achievements, progress, planned programmes, targets, and properly tabulated statistics for the preceding financial year. The stated purpose of this exercise is to inform both the Cabinet and the general public in a transparent and systematic manner. Under Rule 25(3), this book is to be published within 90 days of the end of a financial year.

Despite this clear requirement, compliance remains limited. Over eight months (243 days) have passed since the close of financial year 2024-2025. Yet, of the 39 federal government divisions, only six divisions (15 percent) have published their Year Book for 2024–25 on their official websites. The official websites of remaining 33 divisions, or 85 percent, do not have the Year Book 2024-2025 available there.

Which Divisions published year books 2024–25?

According to a FAFEN review of official government websites conducted on February 10, 2026, the following divisions had published their Year Book 2024–25 online:

• Commerce
• National Heritage and Culture
• Parliamentary Affairs
• Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety
• Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony
• Science and Technology

Which Divisions have older year books online?

Although 33 divisions had not uploaded the latest Year Book, most of them had older editions available on their websites. However, two divisions had no Year Book available online at all while one does not have a publicly accessible website.

Among the remaining divisions:

• Eleven divisions last published Year Books for 2023–24;
• Eight divisions had Year Books for 2022–23;
• Four divisions had Year Books for 2021–22;
• One division each had Year Books dating back to 2020–21, 2019–20, and 2018–19;
• Two divisions had Year Books from 2017–18;
• Two divisions had published combined multi-year volumes covering 2017–20 and 2022–24.