The residents of Jammu & Kashmir were eagerly waiting for December 10th 2024 to see RTI go online. Once again the Government couldn’t fulfil their promise and we missed this deadline once again. For the last many years, RTI campaigners have been demanding this facility in J&K but this was always delayed by the Government on one pretext or the other. Even at the highest levels in Government, assurances were given by Chief Secretaries but these promises were derailed by some corrupt Govt officers who don’t want to be accountable under the RTI Act. Earlier, Dr A K Mehta former Chief Secretary gave assurance to make online RTI a reality and now the incumbent Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo recently made the announcement that by or before Dec 10th 2024 RTI will be online in J&K, but this hasn’t happened yet again.
Last month, the Chief Secretary while taking stock of the setting up of an online RTI portal in J&K impressed upon the officers to make all efforts to launch an online RTI portal by 10th of December. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Finance and IT Departments; Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department )GAD), State Informatics Officer (SIO) and other officers. The CS while going through the plan of the NIC for setting up of Online RTI portal which is a very significant public service urged the officers to create an end to end digital solution for it along with a proper digital interface for payment of application fees and sending email and SMS alerts to the RTI applicants as well like it is done by Central Govt Departments. For the last few weeks a lot of exercise was done to make sure the online RTI portal is launched by December 10th but it didn’t mature again. Why so?
False Narrative about RTI
Being a Right to Information Activist myself I have observed in the last 15 years that Govt officers don’t want to be questioned. This is the kind of mindset they have developed in their service career. They don’t treat themselves as public servants and are unaware of these facts . Citizens who seek information under RTI regarding developmental works are labelled as anti -development by a group of corrupt officials. They set up this narrative in such a fine way that even the honest officers are also made to believe that all the information seekers are either blackmailers or anti -development ? But when the same Govt officers retire they are the ones who keep seeking information under RTI from Govt offices. I know many Govt officials who were designated PIOs and were reluctant to share information but when they have retired from Govt service they want to access a lot of information from Govt offices and in fact use some RTI activists to get the information from Govt offices.
RTI activist sends legal notice to Xen
Recently an RTI Activist from Handwara namely Rasikh Rasool Bhat who is also a lawyer served a legal notice of civil and criminal defamation to an Executive Engineer-Xen who works in Roads & Buildings Department. The news was circulated on some social media platforms and news portals.
Rasikh alleges that the officer while responding to LG’s Grievance Cell last year had written some disgraceful remarks. He has now sought an unconditional apology from the Executive Engineer and also asked him to retract from the para – which allegedly damaged his reputation. Contrary to the condition, the activist has warned the Executive Engineer to be ready to pay him damages in tune of Rs 25 lakhs after expiry of the set deadline.
The Legal Notice was sent by Badru Duja, Advocate at J&K High court Srinagar on behalf of his client Rasikh Rasool. In the legal notice served to Executive Engineer, the counsel for Rasikh Rasool has mentioned that his client is a reputed Right to Information (RTI) Activist working in the field of Law, Governance and Public Policy who wants to ensure transparency on a project that is being executed in the Kupwara district. Rasikh Rasool had submitted a complaint to LG’s grievance cell depicting ‘shabby and irregular work’ on Bangus Road plus large scale illegal riverbed mining in Bakiaker-Zachaldara Nallah. The contractors were using ‘heavy machinery which is a criminal act and clear violation of J&K Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016. Instead of addressing the grievance the Executive Engineer mentioned in his reply which reads:
“Rasikh Rasool ‘is habitual of making such grievances and files applications under the Right to Information Act and defaming the name of R&B Division Handwara and sabotaging the Prestigious Handwara Bangus Road Project.”
Can’t citizens seek information?
The Right to Information Act was enacted by Parliament in 2005 and empowers citizens to seek information from Govt officers and ensure transparency and accountability in governance. How can an Executive Engineer say that this or that man is habitual of making grievances or filing RTI applications? If law or constitution has given certain rights to citizens can’t they use these rights? Can’t they seek information from a Public Authority who is executing a project and destroying natural resources like streams and rivers? Infact, the aggrieved activist Rasikh Rasool has now taken up the mining issue matter with National Green Tribunal (NGT) as he failed to get justice from Govt officers. How can we now expect such Govt officers allowing RTI to go online in J&K?
Why Online RTI?
There are several benefits in filing an online RTI application as applicants don’t have to travel all the way to reach the Govt offices. If central Govt offices entertain online RTIs why not the officials in J&K?
There is no need to buy the Indian Postal Orders -IPOs to pay the application fees. These IPOs are hardly available in Govt offices. The PIOs cannot say that he or she hasn’t received the RTI application as digital RTI application provides the applicant with the instant receipt. The RTI portal ensures that the process of seeking information from government agencies is transparent and accountable. This is a convenient and easy way to file RTI requests. The RTI applicants can track the status of their applications in real-time. The portal provides access to information about public authorities, public information officers, appellate authorities etc. The citizens can file first appeals online if they are not satisfied with the information provided. The applicants living below the poverty line (BPL) can file RTI applications without paying any application fee.
Conclusion
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah while chairing a comprehensive review meeting of the Information Department recently stressed on Digital Outreach by the Information Department so as to ensure more transparency and efficiency in working of the department. In such a scenario if there is a group of govt officers who are trying to derail the process of digital RTI in J&K need to be identified and taken to task. I will appeal to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take it very seriously. What are the reasons that RTI isn’t going digital in J&K while Central Govt Ministries are giving this facility to citizens for more than 7 years now?
- Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
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