Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
As Jammu & Kashmir has been once again put under Governors rule , transparency and accountability in the functioning of Government is a big challenge for Governor Vohra. Even after almost 10 years of enactment of a robust Right to Information law in Jammu & Kashmir , its implementation in Government offices is still unsatisfactory. What I have observed during last few years is that Government Officers are not at all taking RTI seriously. Infact few months back Abdul Haq Khan the then Rural Development / Law Minister called RTI activists blackmailers from the floor of state legislative assembly. This irresponsible statement by a senior cabinet Minister was like a pat on the back of corrupt Government officers.
The mandatory pro-active disclosure of information through official websites and other modes under section 4 of J&K RTI Act 2009 is still not being taken seriously by our Government officers . In addition to it organizing awareness and training programmes for Govt officers and general masses especially people belonging to disadvantaged communities under section 23 of this law is being openly violated. Priorities of PDP-BJP Government during last 3 years had been altogether different, with the result institution of RTI has suffered a lot at the hands of authorities which forced us to seek Judicial Intervention for implementation of sections 4 and 23 of J&K RTI Act 2009.
Training Programmes
Government has been completely exposed vis a vis conducting training RTI workshops for the designated First Appellate Authorities (FAAs) and Public Information Officers (PIOs). Mere two RTI training programmes have been conducted by the Institute ofManagement Public Administration & Rural Development (IMPARD) duringlast 2 years. This was revealed through an official reportsubmitted by IMPARD to General Administration Department (GAD) which was finally submitted before the J&K High Court . This was in response to our Public Interest Litigation (PIL) titled J&K RTI Movement V/S State of Jammu & Kashmir. During these two workshops only 42 officershave been trained on implementation of J&K RTI Act 2009. This is so shocking that mere two workshops have been organized byGovt through IMPARD in the year 2016 and 2017. For the kind information of Hon’ble Governorin 2011, 2012 and
2013 more than 75 such RTI training workshops were conducted by IMPARD wherein more than 2500 officers were trained on implementation of state RTI act.
Notices from SIC
Government has completely failed to implement sections 4 and 23 of J&K RT Act 2009. Around a dozen circulars andnotices have been issued by the State Information Commission (SIC) on ensuring pro-activedisclosure of information under section 4 (1) (b) of J&K RTI Act and conducting awareness under section 23. When there was lukewarm response to SICs notices by Government during last 10 years, as campaigners of this legislation we filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before J&K High Court few months back (April 2018) . High Court division bench sought compliance report from Government by May 15th 2018. When the Government through General Administration Department (GAD) submitted the report, Government hadnothing to show except the report submitted by IMPARD which in-fact has made Govt’s position more awkward. Pertinently GAD had send notice to all the Deputy Commissioners but they hardly responded to these notices…..
Peculiar case
As mentioned in my earlier write-up , round March this year I along with some farmers affected by Semi Ring Road project went to meet Collector Land Acquisition in Budgam. The officer happens to be Assistant Commissioner Revenue (ACR) of the district as well. Before the process of land acquisition is undertaken, the Government issues public notices under various sections of J&K Land Acquisition Act. These notices are meant for public and are supposed to be issued in press and other medium. The affected farmers who are the main stakeholders of the proposed land acquisition wanted copies of these notifications as all of these notifications were not made public via print media. When I requested Collector for copies of some notifications, few officials(clerks) of the Land Acquisition wing intervened and told me to file an RTI application for the same. The collector intervened and directed one of the officials to provide the full set of notification to me. In a similar case apple orchardists of Srinagar’s RanbirGarh village in Shalteng tehsil sought copies of estimates prepared by Chief Horticulture Officer (CHO) of Srinagar few months back. They were also denied the same on one pretext or other. The farmers of RanbirGarh are also affected by Srinagar Ring Road project and they didn’t know how much estimate has been made by the CHOs office for their apple trees which would be axed during highway construction. The farmers were supposed to be informed time to time and the estimates prepared for compensation should have been made public by Horticulture Directorate through its official website. The copies of final estimates , details of apple trees to be felled etc should have been made available to the affected farmers of the villages through village Chowkidars and Lumberdars, but this was not done until RTI Movement intervened and got the documents from Chief Horticulture Officer (CHO) Srinagar. It is important to mention that the estimates prepared in Budgam and Srinagar are mostly not at all acceptable to affected farmers and villagers and that is an another fight we are fighting. The CHO or Collector Land Acquisition is supposed to make mandatory disclosure of all these documents under Section 4 of J&K Right to Information Act 2009. The disclosure can be made via official websites , print media or asking officials to visit the villages and make public announcement in the regard. Under the existing Land Acquisition Act which is an 83 year old obsolete law, Government has to hire people who will go and make drumbeating inside the villages where land is to be acquired for public purpose. Leave aside drumbeating, the Revenue department officials even do not make public announcements through Public Address systems.
Conclusion
Section 4 (1) of J&K RTI Act 2009 makes following obligations on every public authority to upload all the notices , Govt orders , circulars , merit list , beneficiary list of various Govt schemes etc on its official website. It shall be a constant endeavor of every public authority to take steps in accordance with the requirements of clause (b) of subsection (f) to provide as much information suomotu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of the RTI Act to obtain information. Similarly under section 23 of J&K RTI Act 2009 , Government has to ensure to create awareness on RTI Act among disadvantaged communities living in far off places of state like Kishtwar , Kupwara , Poonch , Rajouri and other districts. From last 10 years not even one such workshop or awareness programme has been conducted by Govt in these places except a few by State Information Commission (SIC). Without any resources, activists of RTI Movement and some other NGOs have been trying their best to reach out to people in this regard. If Govt cannot conduct such awareness workshops on its own or cannot digitize its record or update information under section 4 on regular intervals, let this work be outsourced to private agencies. Why shall people suffer because of the sluggish attitude of theGovernment ? I appeal Governor Vohra to intervene and ensure implementation of section 4 and section 23 of J&K RTI Act 2009…..
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