Non-compliance despite clear directives of Govt
*20 PAs treated as defaulters by transparency watchdog
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 23: Nearly 50% Public Authorities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have failed to file quarterly returns under the Right to Information Act, 2005 and they have been treated as defaulters by the Central Information Commission—-the transparency watchdog of the country. The non-compliance is notwithstanding the explicit directives issued by the Government through the General Administration Department last year.
The Right to Information Act, 2005, in addition to fostering citizen empowerment and eradicating corruption, envisages a robust mechanism for monitoring of all Public Authorities by the Central Information Commission (CIC).
The Section 25 of the Act provides that each Public Authority is required to submit four quarterly returns for assessment of performance during the year and those which fail to submit their returns even for a single quarter are treated as defaulter by the Central Information Commission.
In the quarterly returns, each Public Authority is required to submit information vis-à-vis number of requests made to it; the number of decisions where applicants were entitled to access the documents; number of appeals referred to the Central Information Commission for review, the nature of appeals and outcome of the appeals; particulars of any disciplinary action taken against any officer in respect of the administration of RTI Act and recommendations for reform including recommendations in respect of the particular Public Authorities for the development, improvement, modernization, reform or amendment to the Act etc.
However, as per the report of the Central Information Commission, there are a total of 43 Public Authorities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir but only 23 of them have filed all the four quarterly returns for the year 2022-23.
The Public Authorities which have filed all the four quarterly returns for the year 2022-23 are Public Works Department, Horticulture Department, Youth Services and Sports Department, Tribal Affairs Department, Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department, Housing and Urban Development Department, Law Department, Estates Department, Civil Aviation Department, Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department, Higher Education Department, Floriculture, Parks and Garden Department, Planning Development and Monitoring Department, Jal Shakti Department, Tourism Department, Power Development Department, Science and Technology Department, Agriculture Production Department, ARI and Trainings Department, General Administration Department, Department of Wildlife Protection, Command Area Development Kashmir and Cluster University of Jammu.
The Public Authorities which have not submitted annual return are Rural Development Department, Revenue Department, Information Technology Department, Department of Culture, Industries and Commerce Department, Home Department, Social Welfare Department, Information Department, School Education Department, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Health and Medical Education Department, Forest Department, Skill Development Department, Finance Department, Hospitality and Protocol Department, Transport Department, Labour and Employment Department, Cooperative Department and Election Department and they have been declared as defaulters by the Central Information Commission.
The non-compliance of the provisions of the RTI Act by these Public Authorities is notwithstanding the fact that last year Central Information Commission had intimated to the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that Public Authorities are not submitting annual returns under Section 25 of the RTI Act.
The communication of Central Information Commission was taken seriously by the Government and accordingly through the General Administration Department all the Central Public Information Officers of all the departments, their subordinate and field offices, Corporations, Boards and Public Sector Undertakings were directed to register themselves and submit quarterly returns on the designated portal of the Central Information Commission.
In the circular of the GAD it was specifically mentioned that lapses, if any, shall be the personal responsibility of the Central Public Information Officer concerned. But the report of the Central Information Commission for the year 2022-23 clearly indicates non-compliance of the provisions of the RTI Act and explicit directives of the General Administration Department by at least 50% of the Public Authorities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
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