Applicant asked to visit office, receives reply after 5 months
Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Feb 21: The authorities in Kashmir are making fun of the Right to Information Act as the Doodpathri Development Authority (DDA) has denied the information sought under the RTI Act on flimsy grounds while employing means to inform the applicant that are beyond rules.
The DDA in its reply after a passage of around five months has asked the applicant to come in person and inspect the records as the Authority is facing a dearth of manpower and it is not possible for them to provide the entire information.
Ironically, the reply has been sent via ordinary mail which reached the applicant after two months. It was sent in November last year asking him to come for the inspection of the records in December. The reply reached the applicant on February 20 this year.
The chain of events stated that on September 1 last year, the applicant sought information related to various aspects of the functioning of the DDA as well as the Yusmarg Development Authority (YDA), and for which the applicant wrote to the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat, Srinagar.
In a just few days, on September 4, the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the LG’s Secretariat forwarded the RTI application of the applicant to the Tourism Department, Civil Secretariat which then forwarded the same to the DDA and YDA for providing of information.
Then, in October, the YDA furnishes the information to the applicant as sought. However, the DDA delays the process and instead writes to the applicant in November to visit the office in December to personally inspect the records.
“This office has received the RTI application from Mushtaq Ahmad Lone through your office on 02-11-2020, where under the applicant has sought a number of details from this office. In this connection, it is to inform you that most of the information as sought by him is not available in consolidated form but scattered which needs to be prepared, but this office is having meagre manpower, due to which it is not possible to frame the information exactly as per the points raised. Also, the court has given directions in this regard not to manufacture any information. In these circumstances, this office is left with no option but to allow inspection of the said records. In this connection you are requested to kindly direct Mushtaq Ahmad Lone to visit this office on 7th December during office hours for inspection of records for which he will have to pay the requisite charges as per the RTI Act 2005,” read the reply that the CEO DDA has sent to the Deputy Secretary, Tourism Department on November 9 last year, the copy of which has also been sent to the applicant.
“This is a mockery of the law that they have made; the reply, which is a denial of information is sent to me via ordinary mail and reaches me after a passage of at least 3 months; the reply didn’t even have a mailing address on which I could have contacted them,” the applicant Mushtaq Ahmad Lone hailing from Budgam told Excelsior.
Notably, the information that the applicant had sought from both the DDA and YDA include the total number of employees with a list and designation, the number of casual and need-based employees with a date of appointment, amount spend on developmental works in Yusmarg and Doodhpathri from 2015 till date with year-wise details; details of the amount spent on sanitation along with the information on how the waste is treated after collection at Yusmarg and Doodhpathri.
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