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Turning the pages of calendar year 2011 and the RTI developments in the state, It would be injustice if I do not appreciate the state government which though slowly but somehow made many of its promises regarding the implementation of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009. Of course, yet many promises remained unattended for the reasons best known to the people at the helm of affairs but being a citizen (and a frequent RTI user) of the state I am privileged to feel the essence of participatory democracy in my state, where earlier it was just experienced twice in 6 years. One by voting in the Lok Sabha elections and other while electing our representatives for the state legislative assembly. This switch over from 'Bullet' to 'Ballot Democracy' and then to 'Participatory Democracy' appears to be a dream, but this is realism. It gives lot of encouragement to a common citizen when he goes with an RTI application to the highest offices of the state be it Rajbhavan or the Chief Minister's secretariat, where officers, now, by and large give timely response to the RTI queries. It is only with the help of this transparency law that one BPL category person namely Bashir seeks information from the Chief Minister's office and the officers provided him the full information free of cost. Obviously those officers deserve all the appreciations who honoured the law passed by the state legislature. Such a shift is more significant in our state. The Right to Information Act marked a new beginning in our state which has witnessed a long era of violence and hostility where perhaps no one ever even thought of even ballot forget 'good governance.' On 28th Feb this year, the first chief information commissioner GR Sufi took over his chair and it is only after his appointment that the Public Information officers started adhering the rules and provisions of the act. At the conclusion I must say 2011, was full of RTI activities in the state and all the stake holders deserve many appreciations for their crusade.
Raman Sharma RTI activist and can be reached [@] JKRTIACT@GMAIL.COM |
Monday, March 19, 2012
Raman Sharma is a dedicated Jammu based RTI activist and journalist . With a focus on transparency and accountability, with his writing he has contributed for various credible newspapers and magazines in the region. He is amongst the first few batches who completed Certificate Course in RTI from the Centre for Good Governance in Hyderabad, in collaboration with the Government of India.
Sharma is actively involved in education and advocacy, having delivered guest lectures on RTI , Good Governance at different universities and educational institutions to empower students. Additionally, in collaboration with the JK Institute of Management and Public Administration (JK IMPA), he has also remained resource person in training programs for District Officers, Public Information Officers, Ministerial staff of different departments, promoting awareness and effective implementation of RTI/PSGA . In association with the CHRI he also remained instrumental in training for civil society members on the Transparency Law.
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