Corrupt Ministers, Bureaucrats nexus Dilute the RTI Act

Ministers-Babus nexus dilute RTI Act

Raman Sharma 9/3/2012 1:53:24 AM

Right from day one since he entered the office, Omar Abdullah the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir State in all these three and half years always sworn by the name of "Transparency and Accountability." He along with his other colleagues themselves accredited their government for strengthening the laws and institutes for transparency and accountability, especially for the Right to Information Act. This is evident from the fact that Chief Minister was personally keen to appoint members of the State Information Commission and convened three—four meetings with the Opposition leader in 2010 and 2011 despite her dissent and she also boycotted one such meet. However sources in the Chief Minister's Secretariat confirm that the Chief Minister was personally keen to strengthen the RTI Act, Public Service Guarantee Act, State accountability Commission and the State Vigilance Commission but some of his cabinet colleagues and bureaucrats did not appeared pleased with his crusade and advised the young Chief Minister to go slow, initially he did not cared much about the dissent voices against his noble mission of bringing reforms in the state but later under political compulsion he had to make compromises and the dissent voices survived. Now again, when the proposal to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Rules, 2010 was drafted, he had directed the officers not to make any such change which would compromise the power of the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009 or the independence of the State Information Commission. Omar always took keen interest in the activities of the RTI activists of the state and always appreciated them for their crusade. In winter of 2011, during his meeting with all the RTI activists of the state at civil secretariat Jammu, (where this scribe was also a member) he assured them all assistance and promised them that his government would provide everything required to strengthen the act. In this meeting on the request of the RTI activists, he had even directed the then Secretary of the GAD and the then director Information, to remain present there. This was the reason that just a few days after his meeting with the RTI activists, the Jammu and Kashmir General Administration department, GAD issued a circular to all the deputy commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir regions along with Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management and Public Administration for ensuing awareness programs about the Right to Information Act and Rules, and the State information department also organized a few RTI awareness programs and issued advertisements and news reports about RTI issues. He was always accessible to the RTI activists and remained in constant touch via email and electronic means.  But as now suddenly the state government has clipped the wings of the State Information Commission by amending the advantageous provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir RTI rules, 2010 replacing it with Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Rules, 2012 the RTI activists and the civil society members are not able to understand the sudden change in the policy.  Activist believes that the Chief Minister has been misguided by the officers and some of his cabinet colleagues otherwise he cannot do away the powers of the commission which he constituted himself a year ago and appointed all the three members. In their appeal to the Chief Minister, RTI activists have urged the Chief Minister to immediately review the SRO no 279 issued on 30th Aug 2012 which has taken almost all the powers of the state information commission and render it as a horseless cart which is just to see but can't ride and run. It is also being learnt that in days to come a joint delegation of RTI activists and other members of the civil society shall be meeting the chief minister and Governor NN Vohra. It is pertinent to mention here that the stake holders have neither been consulted nor intimated about the amendments, so much so that even the state Information Commission was not provided any opportunity to present their demands for including in the new rules framed by the GAD.  http://www.thenorthlines.com/newsdet.aspx?q=55564 Author is an RTI Activist and can be reached [@] jkrtiact@gmail.com