Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 8: Director General, Youth Services and Sports, Naveen Agarwal, Chief Post Master General, Chander Prakash, President Dharmarth Trust Major General (retd) R S Jamwal and Sangarsh RTI activists today called on Governor N N Vohra at Raj Bhavan.
Mr Agarwal apprised the Governor about the ongoing selection process for sending cultural troupes to 18th National Youth Festival being shortly held in Punjab and briefed him about the to date status of the preparations underway for the Republic Day celebrations in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also briefed the Governor about the steps being taken for the development of basic sports infrastructure at Panchayat level in the State under the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan Scheme. He also informed the Governor about the annual sports competitions, including various adventure sports, which are being organized by the department to encourage sports activities in the State.
Chief Post Master General briefed the Governor about the progress relating to the computerization of Post Offices in J&K under the Information Technology Modernisation Project.
He also apprised the Governor about the varied facilities being provided to the customers in the Post Offices in the State and, in particular, by the Tourist Post Offices.
The Governor emphasized the need to reorient the functioning of Post Offices to bring it in harmony with the changing times and work towards maximizing financial inclusion in the remote and rural areas of the State through banking facilities and other financial products being made available to the people living in rural areas.
President Dharmarth Trust briefed the Governor about the various problems relating to the temples managed by the Dharmarth Trust inside and outside the State. The Governor was also informed about the upkeep and maintenance of rare manuscripts in the Ranbir Sanskrit Research Institute, Jammu and about the various philanthropic activities which are being undertaken by the Trust, especially for the weaker sections of the society.
A delegation of “Sangarsh RTI’’ comprising of Balvinder Singh, Raman Sharma, Dewakar Sharma, Deepak Sharma and Harasis Singh apprised the Governor about the experiences of the RTI activists in the State and their assessment about the effectiveness of the Right To Information Act-2009 to provide the demanded information to the applicants.
The activists also pointed out specific important cases which were exposed consequent to initiatives taken by their organization.
The delegation also briefed the Governor about the steps taken by their organization to generate awareness in the society about the usefulness of the RTI Act and the serious difficulties faced by the whistle blowers in the State, including serious threats to their lives.
The Governor suggested to the RTI activists to publicize their success stories so that the anti-corruption movement could spread and be strengthened. While welcoming the delegation’s suggestion to involve Universities, colleges and other educational institutions in organizing workshops, seminars to disseminate the importance of RTI Act, the Governor stressed the importance of guarding against abuse of the provisions of the RTI Act.
The Governor was presented a User Guide on the “Right To Information Act-2009” by the delegation. The Governor suggested that this Guide could be published in vernacular languages in order to extend its reach and make it accessible to non- English knowing persons.
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