Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
During 2014 Assembly elections Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) published a Vision Document titled “An Aspirational Agenda” . The election promises which PDP made with the people of Jammu & Kashmir are contained in this document. It is a fact that PDP did not get the absolute mandate to form its own Government in the State. The party has some right to say that it cannot fulfill all the promises contained in the vision document, but it cannot shy away from fulfilling some basic promises that are related to better governance and accountable administration. PDP’s political ally in J&K ie Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) may have reservations when it comes to establishment of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kashmir valley but I don’t think they will have any reservation when it comes to curbing corruption or strengthening institutions of probity and transparency in J&K. People from Jammu region and Kashmir valley too have many political and ideological differences ,but when it comes to making J&K a corruption free state or making our institutions more workable and participatory i am sure people from both the regions have no difference of opinion at all and the reason is that ordinary citizens from both the regions of state are directly affected by mis-governance and maladministration.
PDP’s vision document contains a separate chapter titled “ Reforming the Government”. The party promises for proactive, accountable and transparent governance. A very important promise is made in the vision document which is further titled as “Empowering of Institutions”. PDP which is now in power has promised to give genuine autonomy to transparency institutions such as State Accountability Commission (SAC) , State Vigilance Commission (SVC) , and State Information Commission (SIC). Through this write-up I want create an awareness among the people as to how these commissions operate and their current status of addressing the issues related to corruption , mis-governance , nepotism etc. The authorities at the helm of affairs ie lawmakers , executive and judiciary should also note down these humble observations which are based on facts with in-depth research .
State Accountability Commission :
Jammu and Kashmir State Accountability Commission (SAC) was constituted under provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Accountability Commission Act, 2002 (J&K SAC Act 2002) .
The mandate of this commission is to inquire into the grievances and allegations against public functionaries including Chief Minister and for matters connected therewith. Section 3 of the J&K SAC Act 2002 , provides that the Accountability Commission shall consist of a Chairperson who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or a Judge of any High Court and two other members. When this commission was constituted for the first time during PDP- Congress coalition Government (2002-2008) people had high hopes from it. But with the passage of time SAC could not deliver justice and that was mainly due to apathy of the Government. The SAC remained headless for as many as four years. The commission is supposed to have two members but as on date there is only one member which directly affects its working. Going through orders issued by the SAC , it is a matter of serious concern that this commission which is supposed to probe and investigate matters related to corruption , nepotism and other administrative malpractices has only decided 28 cases from 14.10.2005 to 26.2.2013 . I am not quoting this at my own level but this is the information which I have collected from SAC’s official website (www.jksac.nic.in) . From October 2013 onwards it seems not a single case has been decided by State Accountability Commission (SAC) . What is the justification with Government who spends huge amount of tax-payers money on the salaries of staff and members of this commission as the output from SAC is very unimpressive and discouraging ? Under section 4 (1) (b) J&K Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) all the public authorities are supposed to make proactive disclosure within 120 days of the enactment of RTI Act . This disclosure is related to working of their organization, functions , duties , remuneration etc. Majority of Govt departments , semi Government organizations , commissions have put these details on their official websites but SAC has completely failed to make this voluntary disclosure as well. The RTI related link is nowhere seen on SAC’s website.
State Vigilance Commission (SVC) :
Few years back Government enacted the Jammu & Kashmir State Vigilance Commission Act, 2011 (J&K SVC Act 2011) which paved a way for the constitution of State Vigilance Commission (SVC) .The mandate of SVC is to inquire or cause inquiries to be conducted into offences alleged to have been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, by public servants, corporations established in the State or under any Act of the Parliament or the Act of State Legislature , Government Companies, societies and local authorities owned or controlled by the Government and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. From 2013 onwards the SVC is operational in J&K . There is one State Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and two Vigilance Commissioners (VC) who look after the functioning of SVC. One cannot find any judgment or orders proactively made available by SVC. It can be assumed that SVC has not issued any orders against any public authority or individual ? As discussed earlier section 4 (1) (b) of J&K on RTI Act 2009 lays emphasis of making proactive disclosure of all orders, circulars , judgments etc , but nobody knows whether SVC has issued any judgments or not ? People want to know what kind of action has been initiated against corrupt Government functionaries by SVC. People need to be informed as they are the major stakeholders of these transparency institutions . I myself have lodged a complaint with SVC on December 3rd 2013 , but it is ironical that till date I was never intimated as to what happened to my complaint. I was neither asked by SVC to be present in the commission’s office nor was I asked to submit some more facts. If things continue like this where shall ordinary people go to seek justice ?
State Information Commission (SIC):
One cannot always be critical about the functioning of various public authorities in J&K especially the commissions which deal with transparency and good governance. The J&K State Information Commission (SIC) is operational in J&K from the last more than four years . The SIC comprises of one State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and two more Information Commissioners (IC’s). I am glad to say that all the orders passed by SIC are uploaded on its official website (www.jksic.nic.in) on regular basis. There may be some people who might not have got justice from SIC, but when we compare SIC with other commissions like SAC or SVC the work and functioning of SIC is much impressive. Until August 2012, SIC had enough autonomy to work, but unfortunately the previous Government disempowered this commission by repealing J&K RTI Rules of 2010. Under the existing J&K RTI Rules – 2012 , J&K State Information Commission (SIC) has no power to prosecute or summon top Government officials. The Government after changing RTI rules hardly consults SIC while posting or transferring the staff members.
Conclusion :
I appeal Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to personally monitor the functioning of our transparency institutions like State Accountability Commission (SAC) , State Vigilance Commission (SVC) and State Information Commission (SIC). If the Government really wants to ensure peoples participation in good governance , then Government must call periodic meetings of all the stakeholders especially civil society , citizen groups , NGOs ,journalists , lawyers etc who can assist and help the Government in making our transparency institutions more workable and people friendly . People are fed up with mis-governance and corruption in J&K and residents of both the regions ie Jammu / Kashmir have no difference of opinion over this issue. It is impressed upon the heads of SAC , SVC and SIC to hold quarterly meetings among themselves which can help empower these institutions for public good . Ordinary citizens are not aware how to file complaints with State Accountability Commission (SAC) and State Vigilance Commission (SVC) and in this regard Government as well as SAC , SVC must create such awareness among people at district level and during this process civil society organizations should be involved to make these programmes more participatory.
(The author is RTI and social activist)
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