SIC headless since June last yr

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 21

The state government has virtually made the J&K Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2009, which was an effective tool of transparency and accountability in bureaucracy, “redundant” as the State Information Commission (SIC) has been lying headless for almost a year now.

Former Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Khurshid Ahmad Ganai had resigned from the post of CIC on June 28 last before his appointment as Adviser to the Governor on June 30.

At present, the SIC has a lone Information Commissioner (IC) Mohammad Ashraf Mir who looks after the work of the commission. In February, a high-level selection committee had recommended Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Muneer Ahmad Khan for the post of the IC after his retirement in June.

Activists, however, are upset over the government’s “casual approach” while creating awareness about the RTI Act among rural masses, alleging “It (govt) is hell-bent to make the Act completely redundant as bureaucrats and political class don’t want to be accountable”.

Noted Srinagar-based activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat regretted, “Situation has turned bad to worse as the government has taken it very casually. Their casual approach could be gauged from the fact that the government, in an affidavit submitted in the J&K High Court, disclosed that it provided the RTI-related training to at least 2,500 officers from 2011 to 2014 but only 75 officers were trained from 2014 to 2018.”

“The height of government’s callousness clearly reflected when the incumbent ADGP was made SIC member but he was asked to join the commission after his retirement in June. What was the need of reserving this post almost five months before his retirement? Besides, the State Administrative Council (SAC), headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik, announced to bring J&K Bank under the RTI Act in November last year but no notification has been issued till date. Even Raj Bhawan and general administration department refused to provide the copy of this order. Why the Governor is silent on it? They have made mockery of all institutions,” he regretted.

Raman Sharma, a Jammu-based activist said, “After the implementation of the RTI Act in the state, people had great hopes of transparency and accountability. In the initial years, it yielded some good results but the government later deliberately made it ineffective”.

“The pick and choose policy while making appointments of SIC members without issuing any notification and non-seriousness of bureaucrats have now been made the RTI movement a toothless tiger in J&K,” he said.

Balvinder Singh, convener, Sangharsh RTI Movement, shared similar views, saying “Public authorities have not submitted annual reports to the SIC till date because there is no accountability in the system. Sensitive cases have been lying pending for months together due to the absence of the full bench of the commission. Not even a single camp has been held in the state for creating awareness among the public”.

Only 75 officers got RTI training in 4 yrs

• SIC became headless on June 28 last year
• In less than three years, the commission turned headless twice
• Only 75 officers provided training to deal with RTI applications in the past four years